A group of women stand behind a banquet table at a gathering for the Las Vegas Jewish Community Center. Back row, L-R: unknown, Norma Wallerstein, Zelda Fightlin, Goldy Mendelson, Lucille Silverman, unknown, Kittie Wiener, Reba Saiger, Lee Matorian; Front row, L-R: Silvia Sirotta, Adele Fox, unknown, unknown, unknown, Elsie Goldring (white dress), Helen Greenstein, Sallie Gordon, Lucille Mack, Marjory Grossman

Various photographs of events, portraits, and people associated with the Jewish Federation's Women's Division Leaders in Las Vegas, Nevada.

They've been referred to as the two Jewish mothers who own a funeral home. At first glance that seems too simple a description. However, it is how they arrived at this description that tells a story of two women who moved here in the late 1990s and whose paths crossed as they became part of the Jewish community of Las Vegas. Laura Sussman arrived first. It was 1997. The Jewish Community Center, a JCC without walls as Laura puts it, hired her as its first executive director. She was from Ohio where there was a robust Jewish tradition. She was director for eight years; then executive director at Temple Beth Sholom. Wendy Kraft moved to the valley in 1999. She was a stay at home mom from Boston, who was accustom to volunteering in the Jewish community. Knowing no one and on the brink of divorce, the Jewish community became her life, a way to build a network of friends and keep her occupied just as it had been in Boston. The two women met through their work with the JCC and love followed. Several years later, in 2009, so did their new business, Kraft-Sussman Funeral and Cremation services. By February 6, 2015, Laura and Wendy had married. They had already formed a family with each other and their three daughters, Leah Sussman, Emma and Elyse Kraft. In this interview they discuss their joint sense of purpose that includes love of family, dedication to the Jewish community, pride in the LGBT identity, and providing caring services to those at the time of funeral services. They talk also of Jewish traditions related to death, the Jewish burial society known as Chevra Kadisha, and challenges of their industry. They share feelings about nonprofits and how they value being actively involved in the community.

Renee Diamond, Dorothy Eisenberg, and Roberta (Bobby) Gang discuss their early lives in Las Vegas, including their experiences as a Jewish women and social activists in Southern Nevada.

Gertrude Rudiak and her daughter Geri Rentchler discuss their early lives in Las Vegas, including their experiences as a Jewish women and social activists in Southern Nevada.

Lee Schreiber and Adelaide Robbins discuss their early lives in Las Vegas, including their experiences as a Jewish women, musicians, and social activists in Southern Nevada.

Typed script titled "Mothers of Jews" with handwritten notes and edits. Script is undated and is located in folder with Jewish Genealogy Society of Southern Nevada newsletter Family Legacies from 1998-2006 .