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Nelson, Laralee
Laralee Nelson was born June 10, 1953 and was raised in Provo, Utah with her fourth sisters in a Mormon household. Her parents worked at Brigham Young University (BYU) and she attended the university. She was nearly 30 years old when she moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1983 with her husband. This move was her first real move from her Utah home base. She spent summers at an archeological dig in Israel while studying for her undergraduate degree, but these were nothing compared to relocating to Las Vegas.
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Schwartz, Milton I., 1921-2007
Milton I. Schwartz was born in 1921 and was raised in Brooklyn, New York. He moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1946 to help build the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. After moving back to New York for a while, Schwartz returned to Las Vegas in 1971 to found Valley Hospital and serve as its board chairman. He was involved in many businesses in Las Vegas and worked in real estate development. He also owned and operated a cable television company called MISCO, Inc. and was a partner and director of Yellow, Checker, and Star cab companies.
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Lisle, Ralph Fairbanks, 1914-2004
Ralph Fairbanks Lisle was born on June 18, 1914 in Lyon, Nevada. He and his family moved to the mining community of Beatty, Nevada in 1938. Lisle held several elected office positions, including Nye County Commissioner, Justice of the Peace, and hospital board member. Ralph Lisle married Chloe Colvin on July 5, 1939 and opened a hardware store in Beatty, Nevada in 1955. Ralph Fairbanks Lisle passed away on January 16, 2004 at the age of 89.
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Cagley, Lee, 1951-
Lee Cagley was born January 31, 1951 in the Panama Canal Zone. His father was a civil engineer for the Panama Canal Company, and after he left that job, Cagley spent his childhood in Dallas, Texas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Des Moines, Iowa. He started to attend Rice University but left before he completed his degree in architecture. Cagley returned to college a few years later and graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in interior design in 1975.
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Winston, Leandrew, 1947-
Leandrew Winston was born October 06, 1947 in Grady, Arkansas, and migrated first to California and then to Las Vegas, Nevada. In Las Vegas, Winston became a well-connected figure in the African American community and often told stories about his experiences with police brutality. He chose to work in public broadcasting, and in 1971 became the first African American to work at PBS at Channel 10. Winston started hosting “Ten on the Black side”, his own television news talk show in 1975, and later became the Minority Affairs Director at Channel 10.
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Vandersnick, Ralph, 1927-
Ralph Vandersnick was born March 16, 1927 in Annawan, Illinois, a small town that was 150 miles from Chicago, Illinois. His mother died when he was five, and his family moved to Atkinson, Illinois in 1934. He grew up in the Great Depression and was drafted into World War II when he was 17, missing high school graduation by a year.
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Epstein, Kenny, 1941-
Kenneth Epstein was born in 1941 in Chicago, Illinois. When he was 15 years old, Epstein’s family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Three years later, he began to work in the gaming industry. His mentor was Jackie Gaughan, then-owner of the El Cortez Hotel and Casino, whom he met in Lake Tahoe in 1956. In 1975, Epstein became Gaughan’s business partner in the operation of the El Cortez. He also helped Gaughan and his son open the Barbary Coast on the Las Vegas Strip in 1979.
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Wanderer, John
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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Chenin, Susan
Suzie Chenin was born August 28, 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio. The next year, her parents, Joseph and Irene Chenin, moved the family to Las Vegas, Nevada. Her father, a dentist, was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, becoming the first Jewish dentist in the state – and only the thirtieth overall. After graduating from Las Vegas High School, Chenin attended Arizona State University. However, she quit school and moved to Los Angeles, California where she got a job with a large real estate developer. This was her first foray into the industry.
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