James (Jim) Bilray died 09/19/21.  He was a lifelong resident of Las Vegas and served 4 terms in Congress from 1987-1995.  He had a distinguised public service career, serving as a University of Nevada Regent from 1968-1972 and as a Nevada State Senator from 1980-1987.  He was appointed to the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors by President George W. Bush in 2006 and served through 2016.  Jim was among the first students at UNLV (then known as Nevada Southern).  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 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.  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 Distinguised 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.  Jim was a zealous UNLV Rebel fan and regularly attended UNLV football and basketball games.  Jim served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1955-1963 and 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 is a midshipman 3/C at the U.S. Naval Academy.  This year was the first time he rooted for Navy to beat Army.  Jim was a member of the NV Bar Association for 56 years.  In his early career, he was a Clark County Deputy District 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.  He was also 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 and was able to prevent the Hawthorne, NV Army Depot from being closed.  While in Congress he sponsored legislation in 1990 to permanently protect 83,000 acres at Red Rock Canyon.  In 1994 he successfully spearheaded expanding the Red Rock National Conseervation Area to 176,000 acres.  He also created the Spring Mountain National Recreation Area and sponsored the Nevada Wildnerness Protection Act.  In May, 2021 he was honored with a plaque at the Red Rock Visitor's Center.  The James H. Bilbray Elementary School in Las Vegas is named in Jim's honor.  He was married to Michaelene, his college sweetheart, for 61 years.  They had 3 daughters and 1 son, and 5 grandchildren.  Services for Jim will be held on September 30, 2021 at the Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 5959 S. Hualapai Way.

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/las-vegas-nv/james-bilbray-10364699