Stephen Douglas Hartman
July 13, 1948 - March 9, 2025
Stephen Douglas Hartman, a distinguished attorney, developer, and a devoted member of the Carson City community, passed away peacefully on March 9th, 2025, at the age of 76, with his children by his side.
Steve was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 13th, 1948, to his parents William Charles Hartman and Pansy Louella Hartman. Steve was very proud of his upbringing. He always admired his dad, Bill, for his accomplishments and involvement in the community and he loved his mother, Pinky, dearly. Steve went to Western High School where he excelled in sports. He was a star pitcher and quarterback and was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame at Western. After high school, Steve went to college at Cal STATE Northridge where he played both baseball and football. His love of football eventually won out and he put all of his focus on playing quarterback, winning the Junior Rosebowl. He went on to law school at the University of San Diego and married his wife Nancy in 1970. They moved to Carson City in 1972 and raised a family. Steve loved Carson City and he sought to support the community by coaching youth sports, participating on local boards and fundraising for foundations. When he was not coaching his kids’ baseball and softball teams, he loved spending time all across Nevada, hunting and fishing. More than anything, he enjoyed showing his family the mountain ranges that he had hunted and fished all his life.
Steve was admitted to the Nevada State Bar in 1973 while working as a law clerk for Justice Cameron Batjer of the Nevada Supreme Court. Following his clerkship, Steve went to work for the Carson City law firm then known as Laxalt, Berry & Allison. Steve quickly became an integral part of the firm, spending more than twenty years representing a varied group of farmers, ranchers and developers who helped to shape the growth of Carson City, Douglas County and Lyon County for years to come. His law firm later became known as Allison, MacKenzie, Hartman, Soumbeniotis & Russell and, in no small part due to Steve’s foresight and instinct, the firm survives to this day as simply Allison MacKenzie.
Steve never forgot the importance of maintaining the open spaces that make Northern Nevada the wonderful environment that it is. Steve was the driving force, together with a small group of others, that established the Carson City Open Space Program that, over the last twenty years, has resulted in the designation of nearly 7,000 acres of perpetual open space, set aside for the enjoyment of everyone.
Among the property owners and developers that Steve represented were the pioneering Dangberg family of the Carson Valley, the developers of the Ridge Resorts and the developers of several golf course communities in northern Nevada, including Dayton Valley, Genoa Lakes, Sunridge and Silver Oak. Steve was always more than a legal representative to his landowning clients; he was often the visionary that could see what might be. Steve’s time at the law firm was marked by a fierce loyalty to his partners and broad vision about what was possible in this part of Nevada. The quality of life that we enjoy in Carson City and the surrounding counties is, in large part, a result of Steve’s insight and vision.
Steve joined Vidler Water Company in 2001 as their Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and General Counsel. For the next 24 years Steve was an industry leader in facilitating and supporting economic growth throughout the Southwest through the development of sustainable and reliable water supplies. Steve was instrumental in the developing of strategic partnerships with local governments and municipal water providers throughout Nevada. Steve cared greatly about rural Nevada and believed that the rural counties should have a say and an economic gain from the development of Natural Resources within the boundaries of their County, he felt no county should grow on another county’s resources. Steve fostered the belief at Vidler that all curriculums and opinions are needed at the table to bring a project to a successful completion, and he had a story for every situation encountered. Steve was the lead on all public relation matters at Vidler, and he taught those at Vidler that they need support from both political parties if anything was to get done. However, if nothing got done it was most likely the fault of a democrat! There was never a fight or cause that Steve shied away from. No matter how long or difficult the issue, Steve was in it until it was finished.
Steve believed deeply in civil service and was heavily involved in local, state and national politics throughout his adult life. He believed that change could not be affected without participation, and he lived out that belief to the fullest. He was always behind the scenes to provide support and council to aspiring and well-established Nevada politicians.
Steve continued to hunt and fish his entire life and loved spending time throughout Nevada with his children, grandchildren and dear friends. There was not a Basque restaurant in the state that he could not walk into and know at least a dozen patrons, which often marveled his grandchildren. Steve is survived by his daughter, Kimberly Laack, her husband Taylor Laack and their three children Noah, Audrey and Grayson. His son Stephen Hartman II; his brother, Jeffery Hartman, Sister-in-Law, Laurie Hartman and their three children Amanda, William and Emily. He also leaves a legacy of lawyers and politicians that he has mentored and advised for his entire life. His family, friends, clients, and colleagues will forever remember him as an innovative thinker, devoted father and grandfather who loved his community, his Nevada, his country and his labrador retrievers (Pete, Ben, Annie, Moab, Daisy, Valley, Boomer and Paddy).
A memorial service will be held on April 11th, 2025, at 1:00 PM at Toiyabe Golf Course, Washoe Valley Nevada. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations be made to the Ron Wood Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, in honor of Steve's commitment to helping the Community