No: 26
Date: 2/1/1984
Name: Eugene T. Mahoney
At the time of his induction as a Face, the park west of Omaha didn't yet bear his name. But Omaha's history did bear Mahoney's stamp. Although he was a former member of the Omaha Police Department's morals squad and former state senator, it was as the long-time director of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission he was most noted. He held that position at the time of his unveiling. Said caricaturist Jim Horan: "I modeled the 'Face' after a picture of St. Francis of Assisi with the birds around his head and animals. It was a subtle homage. He wears big hiking boots and a scowl on his face because he used to be a policeman in South Omaha." Mahoney was an influential fund-raiser, raising nearly $40 million while he was game and parks director to expand the state's park system. He was the unpaid executive director of the Omaha Zoo Foundation for many years before his death in 2004.  Back to Top