Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 21–Senators Raggio, Amodei, Care, Carlton, Coffin, Jacobsen, James, Mathews, McGinness, Neal, O’Connell, O’Donnell, Porter, Rawson, Rhoads, Schneider, Shaffer, Titus, Townsend, Washington and Wiener

 

March 15, 2001

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Joint Sponsors: Assemblymen Dini, Anderson, Angle, Arberry, Bache, Beers, Berman, Brower, Brown, Buckley, Carpenter, Cegavske, Chowning, Claborn, Collins, de Braga, Freeman, Gibbons, Giunchigliani, Goldwater, Gustavson, Hettrick, Humke, Koivisto, Lee, Leslie, Manendo, Marvel, McClain, Mortenson, Neighbors, Nolan, Oceguera, Ohrenschall, Parks, Parnell, Perkins, Price, Smith, Tiffany, Von Tobel and Williams

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Read and Adopted

 

SUMMARY—Memorializes former legislator Peter Ignacio Echeverria, Esq.(BDR R‑264)

 

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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

 

Senate Concurrent RESOLUTION—Memorializing attorney and public servant, Peter Ignacio Echeverria, Esq.

 

1-1     Whereas, The residents of the State of Nevada mourn the loss of
an influential advocate and defender of freedom with the passing of
Peter Ignacio Echeverria on July 5, 2000; and

1-2     Whereas, Pete Echeverria, the son of John Echeverria, a Basque

1-3  sheepherder, and his wife, Maria, was born in Shoshone, Idaho, on June 29,

1-4  1918, and spent his early years in Hailey, Idaho, where, at 7 years of age,

1-5  being told by a sheepherder that if he caught a certain lamb he could keep

1-6  it, Pete showed the sense of challenge and accomplishment that would be

1-7  the trademark of his life by doing just that; and

1-8     Whereas, After his family settled in Ely, Pete attended the public

1-9  schools there, working at various jobs and ultimately becoming a butcher’s

1-10  apprentice, a trade that would help him earn his way through the University

1-11  of Nevada in Reno; and

2-1     Whereas, While attending the University of Nevada, Pete Echeverria

2-2  teamed up with his good friend and roommate, Cliff Young, now Nevada

2-3  Supreme Court Justice Young, to become the duo to win the Far West

2-4  Debate Championship in 1943, and it was also during these years that he

2-5  met Frances Arenaz, his future wife and the mother of their four children;

2-6  and

2-7     Whereas, After returning from service during World War II as a

2-8  decorated Army infantry captain, Pete Echeverria entered and graduated

2-9  from Stanford Law School and started his 34-year legal career during

2-10  which he took on a number of high profile cases and was known as a great

2-11  orator with a “trip-hammer” mind and an ability to charm jurors; and

2-12     Whereas, Pete Echeverria was a Special Assistant Attorney General

2-13  for the Nevada Legislature in 1951 and 1953, served in the Nevada State

2-14  Senate from 1959 to 1963 and had been on the State Planning Board for 10

2-15  years when Governor Mike O’Callaghan appointed him Chairman of the

2-16  Nevada Gaming Commission in 1973; and

2-17     Whereas, While on the Commission, his opposition to the licensing of

2-18  Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal in Nevada’s casino industry led to a major court

2-19  battle that resulted in the affirmation of Nevada’s strict gambling laws and

2-20  landed Rosenthal in Nevada’s infamous “List of Excluded Persons,”

2-21  known popularly as the “Black Book”; and

2-22     Whereas, In an interview after leaving the Nevada Gaming

2-23  Commission in 1977, Pete Echeverria said that as Chairman he had to

2-24  “stand up strong and hard” against those who would corrupt the state’s

2-25  casinos; and

2-26     Whereas, Pete Echeverria was national President of the American

2-27  Board of Trial Advocates and the only man elected twice to that position, a

2-28  member of the American College of Trial Attorneys, the International

2-29  Academy of Trial Attorneys, the State Bar of Nevada and the Washoe

2-30  County Bar Association, and was a founder of the Nevada Trial Lawyers

2-31  Association which awarded him the first Lifetime Achievement Award,

2-32  acknowledging him as one of the finest trial attorneys in America; and

2-33     Whereas, After leaving trial law in 1983, Pete Echeverria operated a

2-34  consulting firm specializing in gaming, real estate and legal matters, and

2-35  was named Chairman of the Nevada Governor’s Wild Horse Committee;

2-36  and

2-37     Whereas, Peter Echeverria is survived by his sons, John and Mike, and

2-38  his daughters, Teresa Maloney and Cris Welmerink; now, therefore, be it

2-39     Resolved by the Senate of the State of Nevada, the Assembly

2-40  Concurring, That the members of the 71st session of the Nevada

2-41  Legislature express their deep sense of loss and extend their heartfelt

2-42  condolences to the family and friends of Peter Echeverria; and be it further

2-43     Resolved, That the residents of the State of Nevada are encouraged to

2-44  take Pete Echeverria as a model to “stand up strong and hard” when

2-45  confronted by any force that might compromise the greatness of this state;

2-46  and be it further

 

 

3-1     Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate prepare and transmit a copy

3-2  of this resolution to Pete Echeverria’s children, John, Teresa, Cris and

3-3  Mike.

 

3-4  H