LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It's been five years since Clark County saw its first confirmed death attributed to COVID-19. Sadly, thousands more fatalities would follow.
This is how locals are remembering their late loved ones
According to the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD), as of March 11, 2025, a total of 9,898 people have died due to COVID-19 complications in Clark County. Behind these numbers are hundreds upon hundreds of families in mourning.
Remembering Dan Scully
The first confirmed COVID-19 death in Clark County was Dan Scully. He died March 15, 2020 — before we even had a grasp of what was happening.
"It was really just kind of a shock to everybody," said Scully's sister, Cissy Greenspan.
With most of Scully's family in Illinois and restrictive visitation policies at the hospital during the pandemic, she said it was difficult not being able to be there for Dan in his final days here in Las Vegas.
"I got, I can't remember if it was a text or an email from a doctor, who wanted us to know that he had sat with my brother and held his hand and said a prayer and that he wasn't alone when he died. That made us feel better," Greenspan said.
"We were sitting around the day they were going to take him off the ventilator, and we passed the phone around. Everyone said a few words to him. That was sad, but it also felt good, because maybe he heard. Who knows?"
She said her brother was a quiet and private guy, but he had a real community out here in the Las Vegas Valley, where he'd lived for some time.
"More than several people posted about what a wonderful guy he was, generous and kind, and that really helped, certainly helped my mom to hear all that," she said.
She said he was a great uncle and loved Disney World, along with his Chicago Cubs. When his cremated remains were sent to Illinois, she said they created a Cubs shrine of sorts honoring Dan in their garage, where family members could come and spend time together in an open-air setting, socially distanced during the pandemic. She said it was comforting to her kids to have her brother's presence there.
Their family would get another heartbreaking shock not long after Dan Scully's passing — their mother died from COVID-19 just two months later.
"It was really a double whammy," Greenspan said.
Remembering Maria
Local artist Isaias Urrabazo knows this type of loss well. He lost his mother, Maria, in 2020 to COVID-19.
"When mom eventually went into the hospital, the hardest thing was not being able to see her," Urrabazo said.
Like so many people who lost loved ones to COVID-19, he wasn't able to say a proper goodbye. It's a loss he and his siblings still mourn to this day.
"While the world may be going on, I'm not sure about them but I know where I'm at. I know where the family is at, that we still grieve," he said.
While art is his profession, it's also become an outlet for this immense grief. For the last nine years, he's been creating a display with an ofrenda at Springs Preserve for Día de los Muertos to honor loved ones he's lost.
He describes the display as "an open air church with no walls that reached to heavens when you looked up."
For the last four years since his mother's passing, he and his siblings have drawn inspiration from their beloved Maria for that annual display.
"I just know there was tremendous loss, and we still feel it," Urrabazo said.
In his past Día de los Muertos displays, you can clearly see the parts that were inspired by his mother. The ubiquitous flowers represent her love for nature. There's one piece he calls "Mom's Last Tortilla," symbolizing her love for cooking and how everyone was welcome at her table.
"While she was more than the food she cooked, it was something that touched everyone's soul. You know how food is," he said, smiling.
In past displays, Urrabazo has even included an empty chair, recognizing the empty seats at dinner tables across the country due to COVID-19.
He said his mother instilled in her seven children a strong sense of community, and this annual ofrenda is how they honor her legacy — by providing a space where the community can come and remember any loved ones they've lost.
"The gift she gave us of life, of faith, of hope, of love is so grand that we feel that this is the most awesome way to celebrate her life," he said. "She had such a giving spirit and it was her immense love for people, for strangers."
While his mother has been the inspiration for this display, and will continue to be, he said this is no longer just about her. He said it's become a space for anyone who's experienced loss to come and take solace.
"There are people that leave pictures now of their loved ones are we are moved by that," he said.
The display is for his mother, for Dan Scully, for anyone who's loved and lost; not a celebration of life — but a celebration of lives.
"How beautiful, in the deepest grief and the deepest pain, something beautiful has been created," he said.
If you'd like to check out Isaias Urrabazo's altar this year, it'll be up during Day of the Dead festivities at Springs Preserve from Nov. 7-9.
COVID-19 Five Years Later, Channel 13 is bringing you special coverage all day Monday as we explore the lasting impacts and lessons learned.
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