John Feroah, Reno Police, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office

John Feroah grew up in Reno, where his father worked for the Reno Police Department. After high school, John joined the Air Guard and worked briefly for the City of Reno. In 1969, he joined the Reno Police Department, part-time, while working security for the Cal-Neva. In 1971, he began to work for the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, retiring in 2003. He has since worked for the Reno Police Department Reserve and the University of Nevada Police Department. Photo by Patrick Cummings

Full Oral History Transcript

Former Reno police officer John Feroah describes the old walking beats patrolled by his father, who began serving as a Reno police officer in 1949. Recorded by Edan Strekal.

Former Reno police officer John Feroah describes how the Police Department contacted officers walking the beat when his father, also a police officer, was on the force. Recorded by Edan Strekal.

Former Reno police officer John Feroah remembers two West 4th Street coffee shops that were regular stops for the local law enforcement community. Recorded by Edan Strekal.

Lilli Moffit, Owner, Reno Rails

Lilli Moffit was born in Germany and raised in Iowa. In the 1990s, she and her husband, Bill, moved to Reno, where he worked for Sierra Pacific (now Nevada Energy). In 1998, the Moffits bought and renovated a former Chinese restaurant at 1229 East 4th Street and opened Reno Rails, a model train store. Lilli continued to operate the business after her husband passed away in 2010.

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Ed Scalzo, Owner, Forever Yours Fine Furniture

Ed Scalzo and his wife, Susan, own Forever Yours Fine Furniture, located in the historic Flanigan Warehouse building at 701 East Fourth Street. They started the business in 1976 in Kings Beach, Lake Tahoe, moving to an old Ford dealership building on Virginia and Fourth Streets in Reno in 1980. Around 1982 they began to lease the historic IXL Laundry building at 601 East Fourth Street, operating there until 1998, when they purchased the Flanigan building.

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Gaye Canepa, Co-owner, Fred's Auto Repair

Born and raised in Ely, Nevada, Gaye Canepa moved to Reno after completing high school. At the time of her interview, she and her husband, Fred Canepa, owned and operated Fred’s Auto Repair and Supply at 500 East Sixth Street. She was the longtime president of the Reno-Sparks Business Corridor Association (RSCBA), spearheading community efforts to promote redevelopment and resist efforts by the City of Reno to locate a new homeless shelter along East 4th Street.

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History Project4th Street | Prater Way

John Feroah, Reno Police, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office

Lilli Moffit, Owner, Reno Rails

Ed Scalzo, Owner, Forever Yours Fine Furniture

Gaye Canepa, Co-owner, Fred's Auto Repair

History Project
4th Street | Prater Way