Bryan Elementary School namesake has history rich in state politics

Former Nevada governor and senator Richard H. Bryan is a familiar face at the elementary school named for him at 8050 Cielo Vista Ave.

Principal Steve Piccininni said Bryan hosts a staff breakfast at the beginning of each school year and, for the past two years, has hosted an end-of-the-year teacher appreciation event that honors one teacher who went above and beyond. To that teacher, Bryan hands over a personal check for $250.

Piccininni said Bryan pays just as much attention to the students.

"He always comes out during Nevada Reading Week," he said. "He'll read to the kids and take the time during the assemblies to let them ask questions."

Piccininni said having someone of Bryan's stature so involved in the school is a "pretty neat experience."

"Before I met Sen. Bryan, you think of these things," he said. "You go, 'Wow, here's a former governor and a former senator, and this school is named after him.' But after the first time you meet him, he's such a down-to-earth person ... all the teachers he comes in contact with, he lets them know he appreciates" what they're doing and what a hard job they have.

Bryan was born in Washington, D.C., on July 16, 1937. After his father finished law school there, the family moved back to Las Vegas.

At first, he was an only child. His brother, Paul, was born when he was 7. His sister, Kathleen, followed five years later.

The family lived in the Huntridge area. It was Las Vegas' first real development community. The Bryans bought a 900-square-foot home in 1943 for $5,500. They lived there until 1968.

The Huntridge residents were an eclectic mix.

"The doctor's kids lived next door to the truck driver's kids," Bryan said. "Around the other side, one of my friends, his mother worked in an electrical repair shop."

The floor plan had two bedrooms and one bathroom.

"The paradox was the parquet floors were to die for, they were beautiful, but the kitchen countertops were linoleum," he said.

He equated the material to a bacterial incubator every time a knife scored into it. The house has since been expanded and is now used for office space.

His father was in the Elks Lodge and was very active civically, organizing the annual Helldorado Parade and coordinating donations for the poor at Christmas.

Bryan said he was honored to have a school named for him in a way that would affect lives for generations.

"I take great pride in that," he said. "I don't spend as much time there as I probably should, but last week I went over there, and we swore in the student council as we do every year. When I questioned the student body president, I asked, 'What will you promise the student body?', and he was very good, saying, 'We've got two or three things that we want to do this year.' And he was really quite (articulate). I enjoyed that. I've always been a big supporter of education. I loved school myself."

He told of participating in this year's Nevada Reading Week when someone had selected the book for him to read. It was about a duck running for president. It provided a perfect segue into the presidential election.

"I tried to interject, 'Yeah. That's what's occurring this year,' he said. "But these are elementary school students, so you don't get them (heavily) involved in the philosophy, but you explain some things that may not be self-evident. These books are well-written. There are a lot of life's lessons in these stories. ... you don't lecture the students; they're very spontaneous. If you're reading something about Abraham Lincoln, some student will invariably ask, 'Did you know him?' They have no concept."

He graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno, and served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve. His law degree was earned at the University of California's Hastings College of the Law. While in college, he met Bonnie Fairchild, and they married in the fall of 1962. They had three children - two girls, Leslie and Blaire, and a son, Richard Jr.

Within a year of marrying, Bryan was admitted to the Nevada Bar in 1963.

Bryan served in various positions, including deputy district attorney, state assemblyman and Nevada attorney general before being elected governor of Nevada in 1982. Bryan was re-elected in 1986 and resigned in 1989 after winning the U.S. Senate seat. He served two terms in Washington, D.C. He now practices law with Lionel Sawyer & Collins.

After his family, he said his proudest achievement is the fact that he was able to achieve his own goal.

"I always wanted to be governor," he said. "I wanted to be involved in public life, and I take pride in the fact that I was successful in achieving what I (envisioned). ... My father was very active in public life, active civically. I sort of got that gene from him. He always said there was an obligation to pay your civic rent. The community's been good to our family, and we have an obligation to pay that back through involvement."

Among his many contributions, Bryan championed issues such as preserving Nevada's environment, and health and safety issues for consumers. How would he like history to view his efforts?

"I would hope that I'd always be remembered as someone who always tried to do the right things for his community and for his state," he said.

Contact Summerlin/Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 702-387-2949.