James “Jim” Bonaventure was born June 15, 1949 and was raised in Steubenville, Ohio. His family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1958. He’s worked since he was 13 years old and entered the hotel casino industry at 16. The weekend buffet at the Hacienda Hotel was not his cup of tea, but he hit his stride at his second job, the Horseshoe Hotel and Casino, and stayed there for seven and half years. But it was the work at the Union Hall that he loved.