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Hal Ober, Helped Bring Builders’ Show to Las Vegas
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Harold 'Hal' Ober | Harold “Hal” Ober, a longtime builder in the Las Vegas area and member of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association (SNHBA) who helped bring the International Builders’ Show to Las Vegas, died on Wednesday, Nov. 7. He was 81.
Born in Pittsburgh, Ober moved to Las Vegas in 1977 as a division president for the U.S. Home Corp. Three years later, he became president of R.A. Homes. In the early 1990s, he founded Ober Homes.
Ober built thousands of home in the southern Nevada area and developed nearly 30 communities, including the Desert Shores master-planned community in northwest Las Vegas Valley.
Ober served as president of the SNHBA in 1985 and 1991. He also was president of the association’s home owners warranty program for three years and chaired its legislative and sensible growth committees. He also was a member of the NAHB Board of Directors.
In addition to home building, Ober devoted his time and energy to children’s needs, education and the environment. In 1986, then-Nevada governor Richard Bryan appointed Ober to the state’s environmental commission.
“Hal Ober was a home builder who recognized the industry’s responsibility to offer a quality of life to the resident of Southern Nevada,” Bryan said.
Bryan accompanied Ober to a builders’ show in Houston to help lure the national convention to Las Vegas.
Ober served on Nevada’s Clark County School District bond oversight committee to help raise funds for two school bond campaigns. He and his wife, D’Vorre, were also devoted to projects that benefited disabled children.
For their efforts and involvement in the county’s schools, the couple was honored by having an elementary school named after them, the D'Vorre & Hal Ober Elementary School ― "Home of the Ober-Achievers." One of their son’s, Scott Ober, is principal of the school.
Ober also served as co-chairman of the construction committee for the Nevada Association for the Handicapped and as chairman of St. Jude’s Ranch for Children.
In 1989, Ober was named the “Distinguished Man of the Year” by the Las Vega Nate Mack Lodge of B’nai B’rith.
Ober is survived by his wife, D'Vorre ; sons Scott of Las Vegas, David of Las Vegas, Ron of Paradise Valley, Ariz. and Ed of Phoenix; a daughter Jami Gan of Tucson; and 14 grandchildren.
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