COLUMN: Carmel Hopkins

The real estate community was saddened this past week by the death of Mark Tomlinson. He was 56.

Some of us knew him better than others, but all the people who knew Tomlinson agreed he was a great guy -- the kind of guy who livened up a party; the kind of guy who could be depended upon to lend a hand; the kind of guy whose word was his bond.

Sure, there are a lot of those guys in real estate, but he was one of the few with a sparkling sense of humor. Tomlinson always delivered a line with a glint in his eye -- one of those looks that made you wonder if he was kidding or not.

One of my favorite Mark Tomlinson moments was at the 2002 Homer Awards ceremony when he stole the audience from emcee Mark Pfister of Channel 8 -- not an easy task. Pfister was doing his usual witty ripostes when Tomlinson pulled the rug out from under him (figuratively, not literally) and broke up the audience.

Everyone at the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, where Tomlinson served as president in 2002 and was on the board for years, still talk about his equanimity.

"He went with the flow," said a mutual friend. "Whatever we wanted to do, he went along with it because he knew we had experience in those matters."

Irene Porter, head of the association, spoke for the industry when she extended her condolences to daughter, Lisa Loftis; son, Alex; and Tomlinson's two grandchildren.

"This is a very sad day for Southern Nevada's home building industry. Mark Tomlinson was among the most respected and highly regarded builders and active citizens in our community," Porter said. "He was a very caring, thoughtful and intelligent man who worked diligently on many important issues and projects for the benefit of our industry and our community. Mark's commitment to the industry and our association was remarkable. He will be deeply missed by all."

Tomlinson plied his trade for nearly 15 years at Pacific Properties & Development LLC, a Las Vegas-based real estate development company owned by Irwin Molasky and his family. As executive vice president, he was responsible for more than $250 million in construction projects.

"I have worked with Mark since the late '80s and feel a deep, personal loss as well as a profound loss at Pacific," Steven Molasky, chief executive officer of Pacific Properties, said. "He will be greatly missed."

Tomlinson's newest passion involved Senate Bill 241, the housing industry's effort to curb construction defect litigation by giving builders the right to repair. He served on the executive committee of the Coalition for Fairness in Construction, a consortium of local organizations involved with SB 241, whose goal also involves restoration of liability insurance for an industry hard hit by lawsuits.

A procession of Harley Davidsons precedes the memorial service at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Hughes Center Park, north of the Wells Fargo Tower. Tomlinson loved drag racing and playing the guitar; the service will reflect his personality.

The family requests donations be made to the Mark Tomlinson Memorial Foundation, 3993 Howard Hughes Parkway, Suite 200, Las Vegas, NV 89109.

I'll see you Sunday afternoon, when we'll celebrate the life of Mark Tomlinson. The world is a sorrier place without him.

Carmel Hopkins, real estate product manager for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun, can be reached at 380-4574. Her e-mail address is Carmel_Hopkins@ lasvegasnewspapers.com. Snail mail is P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.

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