By Robert Perea
Lyon County formally dedicated the Fernley Senior Center in memory of former Lyon County Commissioner and Fernley Mayor Leroy Goodman last Friday.
Goodman was born and raised in Virginia City, where h Fernley is mother was a telephone operator and his father worked in the mines before purchasing the Virginia Garage. He was a member of the 1959 Virginia City High School basketball team that won the school’s first state championship. After high school, he served in the U.S. Air Force and the Nevada National Guard and retired at a Lt. Colonel. He moved to Fernley in 1965 as a teacher at Fernley High School. He taught American history, journalism, Nevada history, geography and physical education and was the school's basketball coach.
He taught at Fernley High for 14 years, leaving in 1979 for a job at Nevada Cement, where he worked for 30 years as the personnel director.
Before reading the resolution passed by the Lyon County Commission in February, Commission chairman Scott Keller lauded Goodman’s dedication of more than 40 years of service to his community, state and country.
“From his days in the United States Air Force, to his time as a Lyon County Commissioner, and ultimately as the Mayor of Fernley, Leroy led with vision, humility and heart for his community,” Keller said. “His name became synonymous with progress, collaboration and compassion.”
Keller said the Senior Center is a place where stories are shared and friendships are formed.
“Lives continue to be enriched by the kind of community he spent a lifetime nurturing,” Keller said. “So, it is only fitting that this building is dedicated to Leroy for giving us his wisdom, leadership and heart. May this building forever carry forward his spirit and remind us that one person can truly make a difference.”
Fernley Mayor Neal McIntyre was one of Goodman’s students and basketball players. McIntyre told a story that one time in high school he and Goodman went fishing at the pond next to the river at Painted Rock and caught a bunch of catfish, which the basketball team at ate its next team meal.
“I think this is a great honor for Mr. Goodman to show his dedication,” McIntyre said. “McIntyre He kind of paved the way for Fernley in the things he set. He kind of set Fernley up in this growth mode. He didn’t just talk the talk, he walked the walk.
Congressman Mark Amodei said Goodman led as a commissioner and mayor the same way he coached basketball.
“It was always about the team, it was never about Leroy,” he said.
The ceremony was a surprise to Diana Goodman, who said she had no idea what was happening when she and her daughter Mikki pulled up to the Senior Center.
“Just proud, that’s all I can say,” she said. “I’m proud of the man.”
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