Nevada State Library and Archives

 Kathleen Sandoval 2011

Mrs. Sandoval has been married to Governor Brian Sandoval since 1990.  They have three children:  James, Maddy, and Marisa.  Mrs. Sandoval grew up in Reno and graduated from Wooster High School.

As First Lady, Mrs. Sandoval will work to advance awareness of children’s mental health issues.  She is currently a member of Advisory Board for Nevada Child Seekers in Las Vegas and was formerly a member of the State Marriage and Family Therapy Board and the advisory board for National Safe Place.  She is a frequent speaker at national programs and conferences. 
    
The First Lady obtained her Bachelor’s Degree from Cal State Long Beach in speech pathology and audiology and psychology.  She also holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Nevada, Reno and completed her thesis on the whole language approach for speech language pathology. 

DAWN GIBBONS 2007- 2010

Dawn Gibbons grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and came to Nevada where she attended college. She worked her way through UNR, graduated and became a successful Reno businesswoman. She met Jim Gibbons on a blind date arranged by long-time, mutual friends. She's served on many community boards, commissions and as an Assemblywoman in the Nevada Legislature while being a wife, mother and grandmother. She's the recipient of many awards and tributes. Her goal as First Lady is to improve the quality of life for Nevadans.

DEMA GUINN 1999-2006

Dema Guinn was raised in Exeter, California, where she met her husband, Kenny at age 7. They began dating as juniors in high school, married on July 7, 1956 in Reno, and have two children, Jeff and Steve. Mrs. Guinn has been active in community activities including the Boy Scouts and youth athletic programs, and was responsible for the completion of the interior decoration of the renovated Governor's Mansion. 

SANDY (SEARLES) MILLER 1989-1999

Sandy Searles was raised in Las Vegas and attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she graduated in 1971 with a degree in education. Sandy spent four years as a speech therapist with the Clark County School District. Sandy and Bob Miller married in November 1973.  They have three children, the youngest of whom was born while the Millers lived in the Governor's Mansion.  The Millers initiated a privately-financed major reconstruction project of the Mansion in 1999-2000, the most significant since the house was built. 

BONNIE (FAIRCHILD) BRYAN 1983-1989

Bonnie Fairchild was raised in Lodi, California, and attended the University of Nevada, Reno, where she graduated in 1962 with a degree in psychology. She and Richard Bryan were married on September, 1962.  They have three children.

KATHRYN (GEARY) LIST 1979-1983

An Indiana native, Kathy Geary graduated from the University of Indiana with majors in French and English.  She met Robert List at Lake Tahoe in 1961 and they were married in July of 1962. She taught junior and senior high school in Carson City and at Western Nevada Community College.  A realtor, Kathy is active in several community organizations including the Nevada Women's Fund; the University of Nevada, Reno, Foundation; and the Friends of the University Library Board of Directors. 

CAROLYN (RANDALL) O'CALLAGHAN 1971-1979

A native of Twin Falls, Idaho, Carolyn Randall met and married Mike O'Callaghan while both were attending University of Idaho. They were married August 25, 1954, and with five children, the O'Callaghans were the second largest family to occupy the mansion.  Mrs. O'Callaghan passed away August 7, 2004 in Las Vegas.

JACKALYN (ROSS) LAXALT 1967-1971

The fourth native Nevadan to be first lady,  Jackalyn Ross was born July 31, 1927 in Yerington and attended the University of Nevada.  She married Paul Laxalt on June, 1946 at St. Theresa's Catholic Church in Carson City. With six children, the Laxalt's were the largest family to occupy the mansion.  While she was first lady, Mrs. Laxalt oversaw the remodeling and redecorating of the Governor's Mansion.  Jackalyn Laxalt died in Reno on July 17, 2004.

BETTE (HOGE) SAWYER 1959-1967

A native of Baker, Oregon, Bette Hoge was born May 22, 1923 and moved to Reno with her parents in 1945. She attended the University of Oregon, majoring in French and Spanish. She was married to Grant Sawyer on August 1, 1946. While she was first lady, Mrs. Sawyer redecorated the Governor's Mansion and conducted the initial research on the lives of the first ladies. Mrs. Sawyer died in Las Vegas on September 11, 2002 at the age of 79.

MARJORIE (GUILD) RUSSELL 1951-1959

Marjorie Russell was the third Nevada-native first lady, born in 1916 and raised in Yerington, Nevada. She taught school in Ruth where she met Charles Russell and the two were married March 19, 1939.  The Russells had five children.  From 1977 to 1992, Mrs. Russell served as a member of the Nevada State Museum's Board of Trustees, where she was an active supporter of the clothing and textile collection.  She is remembered at the museum's Marjorie Russell Clothing and Textile Research Center.  Mrs. Russell died in Carson City on March 3, 1997. 

IDA (BREWINGTON) PITTMAN 1945-1951

Born in Bevier, Missouri, Ida Brewington came to Tonopah to be a teacher. There she met the manager of the Tonopah Miner, Vail Pittman, and they were married in Reno on March 20, 1919.  After her husband's term in office, they made Las Vegas their home for many years. Mrs. Pittman died in California on October 11, 1984 at the age of 91. 

IRMA MARIE (CALLAHAN) CARVILLE 1939-1945

Irma Marie Callahan was born in South Bend, Indiana, where she met Edward Carville while he was attending the University of Notre Dame. They were married in Elko, Nevada, on August 29, 1910 and had three sons. After Edward Carville's death in 1956, Irma moved to California, where she died in San Rafael on January 8, 1973.  She was buried in the Reno Catholic Cemetery. 

MABELLE JEAN (KING) KIRMAN 1935-1939

A native of San Francisco, California, Mabelle Jean King met Richard Kirman while he was studying business there and they were married January 19, 1898.  They had two children.  Throughout her life Mabelle shared her husband's business interests and was a principal owner of the J.R. Bradley Company, of which her husband was president, from 1905 until her death July 11, 1947. 

MARIANNE (WILLIAMSON) GRISWOLD 1934

Born in Washington, D.C., Marianne Williamson married Morley Griswold in San Diego, California, on  August 4, 1920. They met while they were both attending the University of Michigan. They lived in Elko from 1920 to 1931 when her husband was elected lieutenant governor for a second term.  They had two children.  Mrs. Griswold died in her Reno home on April 5, 1965. 

IDELLE (SINNAMON) BALZAR 1927-1934

Born in Bridgeport, California, Idelle Sinnamon married Frederick Balzar on November 11, 1907. He was a conductor for the Carson and Colorado Railroad at the time. Mrs. Balzar was the first lady when gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931.  They had one child, a daughter.   Mrs. Balzar died in her home in Reno on January 5, 1943. 

JULIA (McCANN) SCRUGHAM 1923-1927

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Julia McCann married James Scrugham on August 4, 1904 and accompanied him to Nevada when he was appointed Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nevada.  They had two children.   After her husband's death in 1945, Mrs. Scrugham remained active in the Democratic Party. She died in Reno on March 14, 1954. 

VIDA MARGARET (McCLURE) BOYLE 1915-1923

Vida Boyle was the second Nevada-native first lady, having been born in Virginia City on June 24, 1880. She married engineer Emmett Boyle in San Francisco on August 28, 1903 and they lived in Como, Dayton, Yerington and Virginia City before moving into the Governor's Mansion in 1915. After her husband's death in 1926, she remained active in civic affairs. She died in Reno on May 13, 1972. 

ELLEN G. ODDIE 1911-1915

Tasker L. Oddie was unmarried during his term. His mother, Ellen Oddie (shown at right), and sisters acted as official hostesses for him. While her son was governor, Mrs. Oddie kept track of his paycheck until her death in 1914.  In 1918 Oddie married Daisy Randal Mackeigan. 

UNA (REILLY) DICKERSON 1908-1911

The first Nevada-born first lady, Una Reilly was born in Hamilton, where she married Denver S. Dickerson April 23, 1904. The Dickersons, who had eight children, moved into the mansion upon the death of Governor John Sparks in 1908 where their daughter June, born September 2, 1909, was the only child born in the mansion. After Denver's death in 1925, Una became a librarian at the Law Library in Reno until her retirement.  Una Dickerson died in Reno on April 9, 1959.

NORA (KNIGHT) SPARKS 1903-1908

A Texas native, Nora Knight married John Sparks in 1879, who had been married to Nora's half-sister Rachel from 1872 until her death in 1878. Nora and John Sparks had four children.  The Governor's Mansion, under construction during Nora's husband's term, was not completed by the time of his death in 1908.  Shortly after that, Mrs. Sparks moved to Alameda, California.  She died on July 5, 1947 in San Francisco. 

LOUISE (ZADOW) SADLER 1896-1903

A native of Prussia, Louise Zadow came to America with her family and settled in Hamilton, Nevada, in the early 1870s.  There she married Reinhold Sadler on May 26, 1874. They had five children.  She was the second foreign-born first lady. Sometime after the death of her husband in 1906, she moved to California. Mrs. Sadler died in Grass Valley, California, on August 6, 1923 at the age of 71. 

ELIZABETH (WAYBURN) JONES 1895-1896

Elizabeth Wayburn Jones was a native of Wales who moved with her family to Eureka, Nevada, in the late 1870s. She married John E. Jones on November 25, 1880. They had two children.  When her husband died in office in 1896, Elizabeth was appointed Assistant Librarian at the Nevada State Library. She later married William H. Sifford, a prominent Stillwater rancher.  She died in Lassen County, California, on February 11, 1925. 

MARY FRANCES (HOPKINS) COLCORD 1891-1895

Mary Frances Hopkins was born in Illinois and educated in California. She came to Nevada with her father in the 1860s and married Roswell Colcord in Virginia City on April 25, 1868. They had three children but only one survived childhood.  The Colcords lived in Aurora before his election as governor, then lived in Carson City for the rest of their lives. Mrs. Colcord died December 24, 1924. 

MARY (POORE) BELL 1890

Born in Maine, Mary Poore came west with her father in 1869. She married Frank Bell in Reno on July 9, 1872, and became first lady in 1890 when her husband became acting governor after the death of Governor Stevenson. She was first lady for only three months. Mrs. Bell died in Oakland on September 9, 1925 and was buried in Reno in the Masonic Cemetery on September 12, 1925. 

ELLEN M. (FRAME) STEVENSON 1887-1890

Ellen M. Frame was the second Mrs. Stevenson and was married to him when he was governor. They were married in June, 1881, about two months after her divorce from Robert A. Frame, with whom Ellen had resided in Gold Hill.  Charles Clark Stevenson divorced his first wife, mother of his two sons, in 1880 in Virginia City. When her husband died in 1890 Ellen moved to California where she died in Oakland on July 20, 1892. 

EMMA (LEE) ADAMS 1883-1887

Emma Lee Adams was a native of Pennsylvania and a Texas resident when she married her husband, Jewett William Adams, on January 20, 1878. Jewett Adams drove cattle from Texas to Nevada in the 1870s where the two met. After her husband's term as Governor, Mrs. Adams remained in the news as one of the leaders of the anti-suffrage movement in Nevada in the early 1900s. The Adams had one child, a daughter they adopted.  The family moved to San Francisco in 1915, where Mrs. Adams died on March 20, 1941. 

LIZZIE (FALL) KINKEAD 1879-1883

Lizzie Fall was born in Ohio and moved west with her family during the California Gold Rush. She met John Henry Kinkead in Marysville, California, and the two were married in 1856. They settled in Carson City in 1860. The Kinkeads had no children of their own, but adopted a native boy from Alaska, Kahtz Kinkead, who died at the age of 13 in 1872.  After her husband's term as Governor of Nevada, he was appointed territorial governor of Alaska in 1884, making Mrs. Kinkead the First Lady of the State of Nevada and the Territory of Alaska. She died in Carson City on August 26, 1907. 

VIRGINIA HODE (BRADLEY) BELKNAP 1871-1879

Governor Lewis Rice Bradley was a widower. His wife, Virginia Hode Willis, died after giving birth to their fourth child in 1852.  Governor Bradley's daughter Virginia acted as the official hostess during his term. She married Supreme Court Justice Charles H. Belknap on February 27, 1873.  She died in San Francisco on September 24, 1926. 

SARAH JANE (COX) BLASDEL 1864-1871

She was a native of Kentucky, married December 9, 1845 at the age of 18 and accompanied her husband to Virginia City in 1861. They had three children.  As first lady her "temperance" views were observed at all social functions. The Blasdel family moved to California in 1891.  Mrs. Blasdel died in Fruitvale (Oakland) on October 31, 1904.