Eugene A. "Gene" Leahy (May 8, 1929 – January 18, 2000) was
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...
from 1969 to 1973.
Gene Leahy Mall
Gene Leahy Mall, also known locally as Central Park or The Mall, is a park located at 1302 Farnam on the Mall in Downtown Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A., and bordered by South 10th Street. There are also two huge slides, a sculpture garden, a remote-cont ...
in Downtown Omaha is named after him. His unorthodox style endeared him to many Omahans. He would often wear a clown suit for poor children's celebrations and he championed the retention of football at the
University of Nebraska at Omaha
The University of Nebraska Omaha (Omaha or UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was originally kno ...
when the Nebraska University System wanted to cut it.
Mayor Leahy was also well known for reading the Sunday comics on a local television station.
His long range planning for the city was done in a fashion which did not draw attention to his own guidance and vision yet has been one of the enduring backbones which the subsequent city leaders have built upon.
References
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1929 births
2000 deaths
Mayors of Omaha, Nebraska
20th-century American politicians
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