Known for his remarkable service in the Clark County School District, Wayne Tanaka has made brilliant impacts in the lives of his students, colleagues, and the Las Vegas community as a whole. He was born in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, as a second generation Asian-American to a Japanese father and a Japanese-American mother. He grew up with a strong sense of community and attended Kamehameha III School and Lahainaluna High School. Tanaka eventually went to University of Utah majoring in geography and minoring in political science and history.
At the time of this oral history, Meyer Lansky II had found a sentimental attachment to his namesake, Meyer Lansky, his grandfather. Though it was considered against Eastern European Jewish tradition, Meyer II’s parents had named him after the grandfather.
David Alan Buer was born on October 25, 1953, in San Antonio, Texas.
Buer is affiliated with the Nevada Test site as a Franciscan brother and as a former staff with NDE. At the time of his oral history interview, Buer was working with homeless and migrant people.
Buer took two years of college at Southwest Missouri State.
Steve Evans was born in Henderson, Nevada. He grew up in the Carver Park community. Evans left Las Vegas, Nevada for a few years to pursue a career in social justice and activism. He returned to Las Vegas and has been involved in community service, worked as a City Planning Comissioner, and a Chair of the Downtown Design Review.
Richard Erbe was born on July 16, 1922 in El Monte, California. He moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1958. He is of German ancestry and was an educator in Las Vegas. He was a teacher for many years, starting out with the 5th grade, but also went on to become a principal at many of the Las Vegas Valley's schools.
Roger Thomas is the second son of Peggy and E. Parry Thomas. He earned his BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and his studio degree from Tufts University before returning to Las Vegas and eventually joining Steve Wynn's team in 1981. Thomas is Executive Vice President of Design for Wynn Design and Development.
Betty Brown grew up in Westwood, California with foster parents. She moved to Las Vegas when a branch of Bank of America and United California Bank opened a few floors above the Sands Corporate offices. Betty was offered a job at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino as a genie in 1969.
William "Bill" Brymer was born on October 14, 1916 in Cambria, Illinois. Brymer moved to Las Vegas, Nevada on July 05, 1942. He eventually married in Las Vegas and had two children. Brymer worked as a craps dealer at the Frontier Club in Downtown Las Vegas and also at the Last Frontier on the Las Vegas Strip.