Reverend Claude Parson Jr. was born September 07, 1928 in Alabama and moved to New York when he was two years old. After graduating from the State University of New York at Oswego, Parson enlisted in the United States Air Force and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1951. He met his wife, Stella Parson, and married her in 1953. He worked in the Clark County School District for nearly twenty years and has an elementary school named after him. After retiring in 1974, Parson became a pastor in the Vegas View Church of God in Christ.

Yvonne Fried, M.D., is the fourth child of five born to Milton and Esther Fried, the founders of Freed’s Bakery. In 1955, Yvonne arrived in Las Vegas as the little sister with three older brothers. Their father was a musician, who ventured into the snack bar business, which he grew with his enterprising wife. Yvonne became a medical physician and lives in Oregon. Yvonne is married to Martin Jacobson. They have three children: David, Daniela, and Max Jacobson-Fried.

Jim Hodge was born May 31, 1927 in Ashville, North Carolina. Born and raised in the South, he enlisted in the United States Navy at the age of 17, just as World War II was winding down. His primary job was that of a cook.

Mike Gordon (1903 - 1992) was born Meyer Harold Gordon. He is one of the founders of Temple Beth Sholom in Las Vegas and served as Temple president from 1949 to 1951.

In 1932, Mike moved to Las Vegas with his wife, Sallie Gordon. They owned and operated liquor and grocery stores. Mike also worked as a postman and later became Clark County Secretary of the Democratic Central Committee and a member of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

Keny Stewart was born July 18, 1955 in California. He moved from California to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1984 to work as an entertainer. A few years later, he accidentally drove through the John S. Park neighborhood and admired the architecture of the homes and the nostalgic feeling. Soon Stewart was a homeowner there, restoring his investment by becoming a neighborhood association president. Stewart is among the residents of his neighborhood who worked with Yorgo Kagafas to attain its historic designation.

JoNell Thomas was born February 11, 1966 and grew up in Murray, Utah in a large family. She attended college at Utah State and the law school at University of Utah. She moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1992 and held multiple careers from being a staff attorney with a Las Vegas firm to an attorney with the Clark County Special Public Defender’s office. Thomas, her husband, Billy Logan, and their twin daughters have lived in the John S. Park Neighborhood since 2001.

Cheryl Leonard was born October 31, 1944 and lived briefly in Sun Valley, California before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1945. After attending local elementary and middle schools, she started at Rancho High School during the day, and worked at the Huntridge Theater in the evenings and during the summer.