Wednesday, March 5, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Gerald W. Mock, a longtime Pahrump political activist who once helped lead an unsuccessful effort to recall the entire town board over a proposal to license businesses, has died. He was 69.
Mock, a 33-year resident of Pahrump, died Friday. A memorial service is pending. Palm Mortuary-Downtown handled the arrangements.
"Gerry was a frequent guest at town board meetings, and opposed issues like incorporation," said Rich Thurlow, owner-publisher of the Pahrump Valley Times. "I didn't always agree with his point of view, but he was a nice guy."
In 1993, Mock, then Pahrump chapter president of Ross Perot's United We Stand America, joined fellow members of that group, Dorothy Hollis and Robert Schneblin, in a plan that included circulating petitions for the recall of the entire five-member Pahrump Town Board.
Mock said at the time that he and fellow petitioners felt shut out by the board members when they attempted to speak up about the proposed ordinance.
Mock and Hollis also said they were disappointed that the board disbanded an appointed committee that suggested the business license proposal be dropped.
"They would have the right to go in and look at all the books," Mock, a retired truck driver and member of Teamsters Union No. 631, told the SUN at the time of the controversy. "That's something we object to."
The trio filed with the Nye County clerk's office a notice of intent to circulate the petitions because they claimed the majority of the businesses didn't want the licensing and that the board was violating their constitutional rights.
The drive sputtered in the southern Nye County community 65 miles west of Las Vegas. Today, the ordinance requires all businesses earning more than $10,000 annually to acquire business licenses.
Born March 20, 1927, in Buffalo, N.Y., Mock was a Navy and Marine veteran of World War II. Mock moved to Pahrump in 1964.
He also was a member of the Regent Rider Motorcycle Club.
Mock is survived by his wife, Helen Mock of Pahrump; three sons, Gerald Mock of Las Vegas, Rick Mock of Pahrump and David Mock of Henderson; two daughters, Patricia DeBerger of Las Vegas and Denise Mock of Pahrump; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
DONATIONS: In Mock's memory to the American Lung Association.
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