Gertrude Rudiak was born August 2, 1915 in North Dakota to Russian immigrants. She grew up in Wisconsin until 1924. That year, her family drove to California via the Yellowstone Trail. Her father had a chiropractic practice in Los Angeles, California. After Rudiak earned a music degree at the University of California at Berkeley, she attended a business college, and she got a job as a social worker in northern California.
Person
Richard Rudiak (1952-) was born and raised Las Vegas, Nevada. He is the son of Gertrude and George Rudiak. He graduated from Clark High School, Pomona College, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Before retiring to provide care for his mother, Richard worked in investments including Valley Hospital and Tam O’Shanter Motel.
Person
Benjamin Franklin, "System Smitty," Smith was a professional gambler who devised strategies for casino blackjack in Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1950s. He was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania in December 1902. He left home at the age of fifteen and headed west, looking for an adventure in California. He moved to Las Vegas in the early 1930s, helped secure land for the Golden Nugget in 1945, and later supervised field work on the Flamingo Hotel.
Person
Lois Sagel is an environmentalist best known for her advocacy for the designation of more than one million acres of wilderness in Nevada. In Las Vegas Sagel became a founding member of Friends of Nevada Wilderness (FNW). FNW helped pass the Nevada Wilderness Protection Act of 1989, which designated wilderness lands in Nevada as part of the U.S. Forest Service's National Wilderness Preservation System. FNW also helped designate the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area in 1993.
Person
Douglas Saito is best known for his casino chip collection and newsletter on the collection and history of casino chips. He researched and published the history of casino chips here in Las Vegas in his magazine, Chip Chat. He also speaks at conventions and works as an auctioneer for casino chips and other memorbilia.
Source:
Person
Michael Saltman was born October 09, 1942 and raised in Flint, Michigan. Saltman earned his bachelor's degree from Michigan State University in 1964 and his Juris Doctor from Wayne State University Law School in 1967. From 1968 to 1975, he was an attorney in London, England and Geneva, Switzerland, and Director of International Operations at Shareholders Capital Corporation in Munich, Bavaria.
Person
Bill Schafer is an active member of the Las Vegas, Nevada lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. He worked at the Las Vegas Bugle and served as managing editor throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Subsequently, he was also involved with the Las Vegas Night Beat, another LGBTQ publication in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has a female impersonator identity known as Wilhelmina Parsons. He was ordained as a minister by the Universal Life Church under his given name and as Wilhelmina Parsons.
Person