Bernie Simon; Mayor of Omaha Who Fulfilled Lifetime Dream

Bernie Simon, 60, mayor of Omaha, who once said that achieving the office fulfilled a lifetime dream. Simon, a Democrat who was first elected to the City Council in 1981, became mayor on Feb. 3, 1987, after he was chosen by the council to fill out the term of Mike Boyle, who was recalled. But just two months after taking office, he was diagnosed as having an inoperable tumor in his lung. That tumor was destroyed during treatment, but two more tumors were found in Simon’s brain later in the year. In Omaha on Thursday.