Bernice Smith was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 27, 1934. She married Ivan Jaeger in 1955. He and his family were involved in the underground gaming industry in the Midwest. When it shut down in 1961, they moved to Las Vegas where Ivan worked first as a dealer and later in various executive gaming positions. Bernice was one of the fist students to attend Clark County Community College (later Community College of Southern Nevada) when it was founded in 1971. She earned a liberal arts degree in 1973 and a degree in hotel administration in 1974.

Leo Lewis was born August 24, 1930 in Long Island, New York. He held many positions in various Las Vegas, Nevada hotels and casinos, including the general manager of the Barbary Coast Hotel and Casino and a casino executive in Binion's Horseshoe Club. He retired in 1989, and later taught casino management in University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). He assisted in the development of the College of Hotel Administration (William F. Harrah College of Hospitality) at UNLV. He died July 17, 2001.

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Born as one of four children in Manila, Philippines, Minddie and her siblings were raised by their paternal grandmother and her sisters (the Three Lolas) in the Philippines when her parents took jobs in New Jersey. After the children joined their parents, the family moved to California, where Minddie suffered abuse and subsequently lived in several foster homes and a girls' home, Olive Crest. It was through Olive Crest that Minddie met her mentors, Bruce Layne, Roy Woofter, and Thalia Dondero and came to Las Vegas in 1995, where she worked with the airlines.