Paul Christensen was born on August 26, 1932. He grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada during the World War II era. His parents were M.J. and Hazel Christensen, founders of a jewelry business. He attended the Fifth Street Grammar School, the John S. Park School, and Las Vegas High School. Too young to enlist, he was of an age that could focus on his education and opportunities for success. He attended college, earned a marketing degree, and joined the Air Force ROTC program. He flew B-47 bombers during the Cold War.
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Lee Henry Lisby was born July 01, 1902 in Louisiana. In 1942, Lisby moved from Tallulah, Louisiana to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he found success in owning real estate. He retired as a sawmill worker, truck driver, construction laborer, and hotel porter. His first housing was an old Army hospital tent, and then he built a house. All of his ten children graduated from high school in Las Vegas.
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Edna “Ande” Rice was born October 01, 1943 in Oak Park, Illinois. She was raised Protestant to a mother who was a teacher and a father who was a mechanical engineer. Rice graduated from Illinois State University with her bachelor’s degree and attended Roosevelt University to obtain her master’s degree in education administration. Rice met her partner, Sharon Maurer-Schwartz, in the 1980s, but was not able to legally marry her until 2008 in California. They moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1999 and raised Maurer-Schwartz’s daughter Julie together.
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Sharon Maurer-Schwartz was born May 15, 1939 in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was raised in a Jewish household, yet she has belonged to various types of synagogues. She met her partner, Edna Rice in the 1980s, but were not able to legally marry each other until 2008 in California. They moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1999 to raise Maurer-Schwartz’s daughter Julie. She dedicated her life to being a life coach and owning her own business, Growth Unlimited.
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Harry Fagel was born May 05, 1968 in Vancouver, Canada, but moved to Las Vegas, Nevada that same year. Fagel graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and started working at his cousin’s restaurant, Piero’s Italian Cuisine, and for Circus Circus Hotel and Casino. Fagel served the Las Vegas community with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for nearly 30 years. He was also a respected poet who wrote for the public and for commission.
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Rabbi Bradley Tecktiel was born June 28, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois.
He moved to New York City, New York to attend university, where he received two Bachelor of Arts degrees: one from List College and one from Columbia University. He went on to achieve a Master’s degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary.
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Lawrence Canarelli was born in Roseburg, Oregon shortly after World War II. His family had no money and lived in a tent on the Umpqua River, foraging and living day-to-day. After their tent and everything they owned burned down, Canarelli’s family moved to various logging camps through Oregon and California. His father quit his job and unexpectedly left the family, leaving the 21-year old mother no choice but to put Canarelli and his three siblings in a Pentecostal orphanage.
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Gilbert Shaw, better known as Gil, is an original member of Congregation Ner Tamid, a Reform synagogue in Las Vegas, Nevada. Shaw was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Los Angeles, California. At the age of 17 he enlisted in the US Navy and became a combat correspondent and was trained as a journalist and photographer. In 1973 Shaw and his family moved to Los Vegas, Nevada where he took on a sales position and eventually became a regional manager for Familian Pipe and Supply Company.
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John Paul Wanderer was born February 20, 1940 in Yonkers, New York. The son of attorney Emilie Wanderer, he came to Las Vegas, Nevada with his mother and siblings in 1946. He attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and earned a Bachelor of Science degree, then graduated from Arizona State University School of Law in 1974. That same year, Wanderer and his mom established their own practice in Las Vegas, Wanderer & Wanderer.
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