When the male members of the Clark County Commission invited Thalia Dondero, the first-ever elected female commissioner, to the old Desert Inn Country Club for a round of golf in 1974, she accepted even though she had never played the game.

The men escorted Dondero and her bag of borrowed clubs to the first par-3 hole and told her rather condescendingly that the object was to get the ball into the hole in as few strokes as possible. On her first shot, Dondero’s form and drive were not pretty, but the ball bounced along the fairway, rolled onto the green and dropped into the cup — a hole in one! The male commissioners stood gape-jawed.

Over the next 42 years — not on the golf course, but in the field of community service — Dondero sank many seemingly impossible hole-in-one shots: She modernized and beautified McCarran International Airport, identified adequate and available water sources for the thirsty desert valley, and became a champion for education and preservation of Southern Nevada’s natural landmarks.

Thalia Marie Sperry Dondero, who served 20 years on the county commission and 12 years on the Nevada Board of Regents while also dedicating her time to other community boards, died Sunday at Nathan Adelson Hospice of complications from congestive heart failure. She was 96.

Services for the Nevada resident of 74 years are pending.

“I think one of the things that was evident with mom was she walked the walk. If she believed in something, she followed it,” her daughter Marylin Dondero Loop said Monday. “She taught us to be good listeners and always do the right thing for the community.

“She was a community-minded person.”

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Monday called Thalia Dondero “a kind, thoughtful and charitable woman.”

“Thalia was a pioneer who opened doors of opportunity for countless Nevada women,” Reid said in a statement. “Her strength and dedication to public service stood as an inspiration, and her family continues to epitomize those values to this very day.

“From her tireless work to improve education for Nevada students to her vital role in expanding Southern Nevada’s economic and recreational offerings, Thalia was a one-of-a-kind advocate for the Silver State and its residents. The impact of Thalia’s work will continue to be felt for generations to come. Nevada is better off because of her and her family.”

U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., said Dondero "broke so many glass ceilings in Nevada and always did it with style and grace. All public servants can learn from the example she set.”

In a March 30 interview with KNPR Radio, Dondero said she felt that her lasting legacy should be her “community and public service participation and raising five children, all of whom graduated from college.”

It seems local dignitaries could agree with that legacy. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman tweeted Monday that "Thalia Dondero was a true Nevada pioneer, in leadership and for women ... devoted to education & community betterment with kindness for all."

Thalia became active in community service while her children were in school. She focused on education, joining the Mayfair Grade School’s PTA, where she met Las Vegas education leader Maude Frazier, who mentored Thalia and encouraged her to run for office.

Thalia Dondero lost her first political race for the Nevada Assembly in 1972 but bounced back two years later to win a seat on the county commission, where she overcame initial bouts of sexual discrimination, refusing a patronizing request from the male commissioners to serve as secretary and take minutes at meetings.

“My vote is the same as yours,” Dondero told what she often referred to as “The Boys Club.”

Dondero often told the story of the first time she picked up a golf club in 1974 as an allegory for overcoming the archaic views of some men toward women at that time. Her fellow commissioners had invited Dondero to play as a lark — to be a potential source of duffer humor — but were shocked by her hole-in-one.

“They certainly never invited me to play golf with them again,” Dondero said.

During her five terms on the county commission, Dondero served as chairwoman on three occasions. She played a key role in expanding state-owned recreational areas, including Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire, and traveled the world to visit international airports and bring knowledge back to Las Vegas that helped not only expand McCarran but beautify it with murals and other artwork. Dondero’s other major thrusts as commissioner were efforts to reduce neighborhood crime and improve the quality of local parks.

Dondero made a bid for a sixth term in 1994, but she lost in the Democratic primary to Myrna Williams. Dondero’s age, 74, became a campaign issue and a concern among voters who had no idea she would live nearly a quarter of a century more.

But she won had won many people over people with her tireless efforts.

"Thalia was a trailblazer who cared deeply about this community and served it with distinction," current Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak said. "She broke the glass ceiling and became the first female county commissioner, and today a majority of our board is female. I had the pleasure of serving with her on the Board of Regents, where I always respected what she had to say. Las Vegas has lost one of its shining lights."

As chairwoman of the Las Vegas Valley Water District Board, she helped champion flood control projects such as the construction of retention basins when many major streets, particularly the Charleston Boulevard underpass, flooded nearly every time it rained. And at a time in Nevada’s history when there were great fears that the available water supply would dry up amid massive population increases, Dondero led efforts to find sources that today provide adequate water to the sprawling valley.

She also served on the Bureau of Land Management Resource Advisory Council, the Summerlin Hospital Board of Trustees and the Nevada State Parks Commission.

Dondero served twice as chairwoman and once as vice chairwoman for the Board of Regents. She was chairwoman of the Regents’ Investment Committee and was a member of the Cultural Diversity and Security Committee, the Student and Academic Affairs Committee and the Health Sciences Systems Committee.

Other community organizations on which Dondero served over the years include the Las Vegas Ice Age Park Foundation, of which she was past vice president and was a member until the day she died; Southern Nevada Public Television board of directors; Gilcrease Orchard Foundation board of trustees; International Women’s Forum; Nevada PTA, of which she was past president; Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada, of which she was past executive director and past president; Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada board of trustees; University Medical Center board of directors; Clark County Liquor and Gaming Licensing Board, of which she was past chairwoman; the state’s advisory committee of the Housing Division of the Department of Business and Industry, of which she was past chairwoman; Clark County Sanitation District board of trustees, of which she was past vice chair; and the Big Bend Water District board of trustees, of which she was past chairwoman.

Born Thalia Sperry on Jan. 23, 1920, in Greeley, Colo., she moved to Bakersfield, Calif., at age 10 with her family and later attended junior college in California.

She then went to work for Basic Magnesium in California, which in 1942 transferred Dondero to its Southern Nevada office. Soon after, she met Harvey Dondero, a native Nevadan teaching at the old Las Vegas High School, and they married in 1946.

From 1946 to 1948, the Donderos made their home in Carson City, where Harvey worked for the U.S. Department of Education. In 1948, they returned to Las Vegas, where Harvey served as assistant superintendent of the Clark County School District.

Harvey died in 1986 at age 76.

Among Dondero’s numerous awards and honors, in 2004 she received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the Junior League of Las Vegas, of which she was a longtime member. In 2006, she was awarded the Education Hero Award from the Public Education Foundation, and in 2007 Dondero was given an honorary doctor of law degree from UNLV for her commitment to higher education and distinguished service to the community. In 2010, she received the Fifth Annual Women’s Hall of Fame Pioneer Award from the Women’s Chamber Foundation.

Dondero enjoyed apparent good health until June, when she fell and broke her hip, her family said, noting that two months later she was diagnosed with the serious heart condition and her health quickly declined.

Dondero is survived by her five children, Judy Habbeshaw of Kanab, Utah; Michael Dondero of Reno; Harvey Dondero Jr. of Greensboro, N.C.; and Marylin Dondero Loop and Robert Dondero, both of Las Vegas. Other survivors include 15 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren.

Ed Koch is a former longtime Las Vegas Sun reporter. Sun reporter Chris Kudialis contributed to this report.