The longest tenured administrator who served as Pahrump town manager has died.
Bill Kohbarger suffered a brain aneurysm last week, according to his wife Lisa.
The hemorrhage resulted from a blood clot, causing irreversible brain damage, she said.
Kohbarger served as Pahrump town manager from 2008 to 2013.
“He did quite a bit for this town,” former Pahrump Town Board member and close friend Bill Dolan told the Pahrump Valley Times this week. “Most people recognized that, but unfortunately others did not.”
Dolan was referring in part to Kohbarger’s ongoing efforts to establish an official Pahrump fairgrounds site on the south-end of town.
“We were going to put in soccer fields, so we could draw in competition to Pahrump and raise funds to continue on with the next section of the project,” Dolan said. “Of course that was derailed by the old county manager and now the area has been totally destroyed by the installation of the fireworks launch site deal, which brings virtually zero income into the town.”
Former Pahrump Town Board member Dr. Tom Waters also spoke to the Pahrump Valley Times about his personal thoughts on Kohbarger’s passing.
“It was a shock and it hurts because he was such a good friend,” Waters said. “I know that his wife Lisa and son Noah up in the Reno area were planning on coming back, visiting with us before this happened. It sounded like things were turning around and he was going to be OK, but sadly, it just didn’t go that way.”
Additionally, Waters said he admired Kohbarger’s work ethic pertaining to the operations and machinations of the town board.
“As town manager he kept the town board together and made sure that we were informed of what was going on,” Waters noted. “He kept the town running despite any emergencies occurring in town. The town board could not do certain things without going through the town manager. He was just an excellent manager. He had another job opportunity when he decided to move on to North Las Vegas. From there, moved on to another job in Reno, so he moved on to take that.”
During a 2013 exit interview, Kohbarger revealed to the Pahrump Valley Times why he decided to resign his position.
“I had a very good opportunity for my family that came along and I couldn’t resist taking it,” he said at the time. “I knew the manager in North Las Vegas. He gave me a call, we sat down and talked and I thought it was a great opportunity.”
It should be noted that the Nevada Supreme Court upheld a 2012 vote by Nye County commissioners to dissolve the Pahrump Town Board.
Dolan, meanwhile became quite emotional when recalling his personal relationship with Kohbarger over the years.
“He was a very good friend, and I’ll certainly miss him.”
As an organ donor, a poignant “honor walk” ceremony took place on Sunday, April 7, at a Reno hospital for the organ harvesting procedure.
An honor walk is a ceremonial event where all available hospital staff solemnly stand along the hallway to commemorate a patient whose organs are donated.
The event normally takes place as the patient is transported to an operating room or waiting ambulance prior to organ procurement.
It is typically held for patients on life support with no chance of survival, but can also be held for living donors.
Kohbarger, who was also a local Pahrump Valley Little League baseball coach, leaves behind his wife and son Noah.
No community memorial services have been announced by his family.
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com, or on X, formerly Twitter: @pvtimes