Thomas Alfred Foley

Thomas Alfred Foley was a member of one of Southern Nevada's most prominent legal families, a lineage that produced two federal judges, two district judges, several district attorneys, and state legislators. Born in 1919, he was a son of federal Judge Roger T. Foley - for whom the Foley Federal Building in Las Vegas is named - and a grandson of Thomas L. Foley, the family's first lawyer, who had settled in the mining boomtown of Goldfield in 1906. Thomas earned his law degree and was admitted to the Nevada bar, going into practice in Las Vegas as part of the family firm, Foley Bros., alongside his brothers before political and judicial ambitions sent them on their individual paths.

Foley went on to serve on the Clark County District Court bench, where he sat as a district judge for 11 years until his death in 1993. He was remembered as a member of a family whose name became synonymous with the practice of law and public service in the growing city of Las Vegas.

He was part of a remarkable set of brothers: federal Judge Roger D. Foley, former Clark County District Attorney George Foley Sr., University of Nevada regent Joe Foley, and state Senator John Foley. Together the Foleys were described as one of the most influential and storied families in Nevada's legal history, and Thomas Alfred Foley's tenure on the district court bench formed an enduring part of that record of service.