Saturday, July 18, 2020 | 8:57 p.m.
Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg, whose work during three decades of government service included leading his office's efforts in recovering and identifying the victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting, is retiring.
“It’s been an amazing journey,” Fudenberg said in a phone interview this evening.
Fudenberg “took advantage of the county’s voluntary retirement program,” implemented as Clark County undergoes coronavirus-related financial hardships, said a county spokesman, noting that officials were evaluating what to do with the position.
Fudenberg said he was unsure what's next for him, noting that he was going to spend time with his family and send his recently-graduated daughter off to college this fall.
At 21, Fudenberg began his career in government when he became a corrections officer in Las Vegas in 1991. He went on to become a Las Vegas city marshal before Mike Murphy, then head of the coroner’s office, recruited him to be the office's No. 2-ranking official in 2003.
The county appointed Fudenberg to the top position 12 years later, after Murphy retired.
More than two years after that, on Oct. 1, 2017, Fudenberg was on the way home after attending his first Vegas Golden Knights hockey game when his office called to inform him that there was an active shooter on the Strip. In a panel a year later, he recalled how he could hear the gunshots still popping through the staffer’s radio.
Fifty-eight victims died that night. Another later died in California after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
When Fudenberg made it into the site of the shooting, the Route 91 Harvest festival, he remembered that food was still cooking on the grills, and that breeze was blowing empty plastic cups on his feet. “It’s like everyone vanished suddenly,” he said in the 2018 panel discussion.
"John Fudenberg is a true professional, leading the Clark County Coroner’s Office with a deep sense of professionalism and compassion, especially after (Oct. 1, 2017)," Gov. Steve Sisolak wrote on Twitter. "His retirement leaves behind a big loss, and I wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors."
Fudenberg replied to him: "I appreciate your kind words and it’s been an honor working with you," noting that the governor, then a Clark County commissioner, supported him during the ordeal. "I’ll never forget that!"
Clark County Commission Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick said in a written statement: "As coroner, John has displayed compassion, sensitivity and dedication to the people of this community and we greatly appreciate it. In the aftermath of (Oct. 1), he personally provided needed comfort to the families of those we lost. He is in my mind one of the heroes of that horrific event.”
Fudenberg said the coroner's office is well positioned to meet any challenge, adding that it’s handled the global pandemic well, so far.
He said he may jump back in the workforce at a later time, but acknowledged that he’d always planned on retiring after 30 years in government.
Speaking about the mass shooting, which he acknowledged most affected his career, he said he didn't think anyone who experienced its aftermath would ever get over it, but that he had "learned to understand it and deal with it in a healthy way." Most importantly, Fudenberg said he learned to appreciate life more and learned how to not become overly concerned over small annoyances.
The Clark County coroner’s office is a “good spot with good people there,” he said. "They’re going to do great.”
