James Hubert Bilbray

Former Congressman James H. Bilbray, 83. died Sunday Sept 19, at Nathan Adelson Hospice. A lifelong resident of Las Vegas, he served 4 terms in Congress from 1987-1995. Jim had a distinguished public service career, serving as a University of Nevada Regent from 1968-1972 and Nevada State Senator from 1980-1987. He was appointed to the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors by Pres. George W. Bush in 2006 and served through 2016, when he retired as the board's chairman. Jim was born May 19, 1938 at the LV Hospital. He graduated from LV High School in 1956. He was among the first students at UNLV, then known as Nevada Southern University. He served as student body president, lettered in tennis and was manager of the men's basketball team. At that time, all students at the Las Vegas campus had to spend their final semester at the UNR. Demonstrating his loyalty to Las Vegas, he chose to complete his degree in government and public administration at American University in 1962 rather than Reno. Later he was the first president of the UNLV Alumni Association, which he helped establish. He earned a juris doctorate degree from the Washington College of Law at American University in 1964. In 2001 Jim received an honorary doctorate of law degree from UNLV and in 2015 he was honored with the prestigious Distinguished Nevadan Award by the Nevada System of Higher Education Regents. Jim will be honored during this year's Homecoming at UNLV in October when a monument to his service will be dedicated on campus. As a zealous UNLV Rebel athletic fan, Jim regularly attended UNLV football and basketball games with his family. Douglas County Comm. Danny Tarkanian, the son of legendary UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, said Jim had "an incredibly impactful life helping millions. All Running Rebel fans owe him a great deal of gratitude as there is no national championship without Congressman Bilbray." Jim served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1955-1963. He served from 1990-1992 as a member of the U.S. Air Force Academy Board of Visitors. From 1995-1999 he was a member of the U.S. Military Academy Board of Visitors. He was proud that his granddaughter, Caroline Bilbray-Kohn, is a midshipman 3/C at the U.S. Naval Academy. This year was the first time he rooted for Navy to beat Army. He was a member of the NV Bar Association for 56 years, and was an attorney at what is now known as Kaempfer, Crowell in LV since 1996. Early in his career, Jim was a Clark County deputy dist. attorney followed by his first partnership in the law firm Close, Bilbray, Kaufman & Carelli. He served as an alternate Las Vegas municipal judge from 1978-1980 and was on the board of the Lady Luck Gaming Corp. from 1996-2000. Jim was a member of the CA-NV High Speed Train Commission from 2007-2009, A representative in the envoy to NATO and served on the U.S. Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 2005. In this role he was able to prevent the Hawthorne, Nevada Army Depot from being closed. In the Nevada State Senate, Jim served as chairman of the Taxation Committee, working to secure more funding for UNLV. In Congress, he was chairman of the Small Business Subcommittee on Taxation, Tourism and Procurement and was also a member of the Foreign Affairs, Armed Svcs, Small Business and Intelligence committees. While in Congress, Jim sponsored legislation in 1990 to permanently protect 83,000 acres at Red Rock Canyon. In 1994, he successfully spearheaded expanding the Red Rock National Conservation Area to 176,000 acres to protect Joshua tree and desert tortoise habitats. He also created the Spring Mountain National Recreation Area and sponsored the Nevada Wilderness Protection Act. In May of this year, at the bequest of Rep. Dina Titus, he was honored with the placement of a plaque at the Red Rock Canyon Visitor's Center. Jim was a devoted Democrat and remained active in party activities throughout his life, financially supporting and mentoring many candidates for office. While dedicated to Democrats, he was proud that his cousin, Brian Bilbray, was a Republican congressman from San Diego. Jim also was a devout Catholic, a member of Holy Spirit Catholic Church and was a Knight in the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. The James H. Bilbray Elementary School in Las Vegas is named in his honor. His daughter, Bridget Bilbray Phillips, was the school's first principal when it opened in 2003. Each year Jim and his wife, Michaelene, hand selected and purchased teddy bears for all pre-k and kindergarten students. Over the years people told the Congressman they still had their teddy bears. Jim was the son of Ann and James Bilbray. His father was the Clark County Assessor for many years. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Michaelene Mercer, who was his college sweetheart; his daughters, Bridget Bilbray Phillips (Stephen), Erin Bilbray Kohn (Noah) and NV State Assemblywoman, Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod (Danny); and grandchildren Michaelene, Matthew, Caroline, Daisy and Molly. He was preceded in death by his son, Kevin. Funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Thu., Sept. 30, at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 5830 Mesa Park Drive, with the Rev. Bill Kenny officiating. In lieu of flowers, donations in Jim's honor may be made to the Bilbray Elementary School or the UNLV Foundation.