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Sparer, Jon
Jon Sparer is an architect in Las Vegas, Nevada who has worked on numerous hotels and casinos. He moved to Las Vegas in July 1981 and worked for the architecture firm Rissman and Rissman before joining Marnell Corrao. After briefly retiring in 1999, Sparer opened his own architecture firm and was contacted by Congregation Ner Tamid (of which he was a casual member) to design their new temple in Green Valley. He was also the architect for the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada (“The Center”) in Las Vegas.
Person
Blankinship, Jerome Goss, 1933-2015
Jerome Blankinship was born in Hollywood, California in 1933 to Herman and Helen Blankinship. Jerome grew up as an only child a in suburb of Los Angeles called Huntington Park. He spent his entire childhood in the suburb and finished high school there as well. Then he went on to attend the University of Southern California. He received a degree in education and wanted to be a school teacher, but after a short stint in teaching at the Los Angeles City School District, he discovered that it was not for him.
Person
Casey, Walter P.
Walter P. Casey Jr. was born in Plandora, California, which is located in the Imperial Valley at the Southeastern tip of the California-Mexico border. Walter grew up living on the farm where his father grew crops like wheat and alfalfa. In 1942 Walter graduated from the University of California Brawly, and then went on to attend Berkeley for four years. Upon completion, he went on to become a flight navigator for Pan American World Airways during World War II.
Person
Clancy, Alan
Alan Clancy was born on April 05, 1949 in Sidney, Australia. His parents enrolled him in the Shirley de Paul Studio to learn gymnastics, tap, ballet, and Jazz. Clancy also became a soprano singer. He moved to the Rudas Acrobatic Studio and was eventually contracted by Tibor Rudas to join The Las Vegas Dancers. Clancy went on a 2 1/2 year international entertainment tour with that group. Eventually Tibor Rudas offered Alan a contract to work in the Folies Bergère at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Person
Cohen, Malcom, Rabbi
Rabbi Malcolm Cohen was born on October 7, 1973 in London, England. His mother worked as an office assistant, and his father ran a bookshop and also prepared youth for their bar and bat mitzvahs. It was his father’s dedication to Jewish education and service that influenced his career path. After earning a degree in psychology from Southampton University, Cohen went on to get a professional qualification in youth and community work.
Person
Kogan, Harry
Harry Kogan was born March 11, 1916 to poor Russian immigrant parents in the Jewish ghetto of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kogan sometimes walked to school shoeless, with no hat nor a raincoat. A treat would be his mother handing him ten-cents to go to the theater and enjoy a silent movie. After graduating from high school in 1933, Kogan quickly took one of the rare jobs available in a garment manufacturing company where he worked his way into being a skilled and valued fabric cutter—a job that paid $35 a week.
Person
Jones, Flora
Flora Jones was born in 1953 in Delta City, Mississippi. Her family moved to Hollandale, Mississippi, in 1968, and Flora finished high school there in 1971. She helped work the cotton fields and pick tomatoes before finishing school, and then got a job at a carpet factory in Greenville after graduation. Jones attended Mississippi Valley State University for a year, got married in 1973, and moved to Chicago with her husband in 1977.
Person
Borns, Leo
Leo Borns, Jr. was born November 27, 1931 and was raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He, along with his wife, Sue Borns, came to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1962 to begin an architectural career that would last forty-four years in Southern Nevada. Borns worked for various firms in Las Vegas, before developing a reputation as “F. Borns, Architect.” He has gone on to design buildings for state public works, Clark County, Nevada, the City of Las Vegas, Clark County School District, churches, and private home owners.
Person
Rosencrantz, Lynn Leshgold, 1949-
Lynn Rosencrantz was born September 15, 1949 in Portland, Oregon, and spent her childhood there as a member of a vibrant Jewish community. In 1973, Rosencrantz married Arne Rosencrantz and relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada to join her husband. He was working at Garrett’s Furniture, a company they would later own together. Her first job in the city was teaching hearing impaired students at Ruby Thomas Elementary School.
Person