Gilbert Shaw, better known as Gil, is an original member of Congregation Ner Tamid, a Reform synagogue in Las Vegas, Nevada. Shaw was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Los Angeles, California. At the age of 17 he enlisted in the US Navy and became a combat correspondent and was trained as a journalist and photographer. In 1973 Shaw and his family moved to Los Vegas, Nevada where he took on a sales position and eventually became a regional manager for Familian Pipe and Supply Company.

Shirley R. Edmond was born on April 25, 1945 in Las Vegas, Nevada. She was a resident of the historical Westside Neighborhood of Las Vegas. Edmond was the first African American woman in Southern Nevada promoted by the United States Post Office to be a supervisor. She also worked at Matt Kelly Elementary School.