Mary Dale Deacon was born in El Paso, Texas, and grew up in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Her father was a Presbyterian minister. Deacon and her older sister and younger brother all attended grade school and high school in Las Cruces.

Dr. Jacob Paz was born November 14, 1938 and grew up in an agricultural environment in Israel where he attended Kadoorie High School. After his graduation, Paz joined the Israeli army. He attended technical school for two years and started working for the Israel Atomic Energy commission in Dimona, Israel, making atomic bombs. Paz was accepted into University of California Davis, and moved to the United States to study veterinary medicine.

Andrew "Drew" Levy was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, where his family became prominent civic and real estate leaders. His grandfather was Harry Levy, a former Las Vegas City Commissioner, and his father Alvin Levy was a former councilman. Drew is always proud to say that he never left Las Vegas and of partnering with his father in the Levy Realty Company.

Florence J. Murphy was a pilot and developer of commercial aviation in Nevada. She was born on December 13, 1911 in Fernley, Nevada as Colanthe Jones, but later changed her name to Florence after her favorite aunt. She attended the University of Nevada, Reno before marrying John Murphy. They moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1936 where Murphy began working as a legal secretary and had her first experience piloting an airplane. She later took piloting lessons, and received a piloting and instructor's license by 1941.

Vida Chan Lin was born in San Francisco as the middle of five children--all given Spanish names because the family migrated to the U.S. via Chile. Vida began working as a young child in her immigrant parents' Chinese restaurant, but soon the family opened the first Yet Wah, and the Chan family restaurants eventually numbered eleven in the San Francisco area. Vida moved to Las Vegas in 1993 to help her sister and brother-in-law with legal issues.