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.
Ina Porter recalls the story of choosing to move to the John S. Park Neighborhood in the 1940s. She and her husband Burdell were accustom to paying cash for everything and needed to establish credit with Sears to purchase their $5000 home, which was not considered inexpensive. They were among the earlier homeowners and soon the neighborhood grew to include a Mormon Church that would become so integral to the Porter family's life and to the John S. Park community. Ina was born 1917 in the small southern Utah town of Kanab. She describes her youth and speaks of the Great Depression. Ina graduated from high school in 1935, married in 1936 and moved to Las Vegas, where there were jobs for her husband. Finding work after his graduation from college was not easy, but because he had been a bus driver he was able to secure a position driving a bus for the Union Pacific Railroad and later Greyhound Bus Line. Years later Ina, Burdell and their family were part of the fiber of the Joh
On March 23, 1977, Paul Pearson interviewed Ellen Lempe (b. 1928 in Detroit, Michigan). Lempe details her life in Sturgis, Michigan—her marriage, her kids and an automobile accident that resulted in gangrene and amputation—before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada. She recounts working as a telephone operator, gambling after work and a big win playing keno. Moreover, she describes her disinterest for politics, her husband’s love for sports and his work as a car salesman. The two end by discussing inflation and the changing attitude and landscape of the city.
In 2002, Marty Walsh and her husband purchased a home in the John S. Park Neighborhood. Three aspects attracted them to their 1941-built home: the quality construction; the aesthetics and details of the house; and the "old-fashion human element" that she associated with her grandparents. Marty describes their relocation to Las Vegas after living for nine years in Ireland and her joy of discovering the John S. Park community. For her there is a neighborliness that they found in the form of the Neighborhood Watch. She feels the neighborhood still has work to do, but the gentrification has had splendid results as new "urbanites" replace original homeowners. From her artist point of view, she also provides thoughts about the impact the artist community of musicians, painters, and creative artists has had on the neighborhood. Even though she is relatively new to Las Vegas, she is well researched in the historic aspects of John S. Park location: once a fertile plot of land where
In this oral history, the long married couple Henry and Anita Schuster recall the history of the 1930s and how they eventually met and created a life together. Their childhoods were distinctively different, but charter a future where they would inevitably meet. Born in Germany in 1926, Henry recalls the dawn of Hitler and the Nazism. His mother would arrange for his evacuation to France, where he would not know her fate or that of his two sisters for a number of years. Along with hundreds of other displaced children, he escaped to America and lived with relatives in Louisiana where he finished his schooling and joined the US Army. Anita on the other hand grew up with her family in New York. They share the story of meeting when she was 16, falling in love and marrying in 1948. They had four children and moved several times before settling in California. They retired to Las Vegas in 1993. Henry's recollections include childhood memories of the Holocaust and its affect on his family, including the loss of his mother and one of his sisters. Finding his surviving sister Bertel (Betty Kale) after the war is a heartwarming tale of survival. The Schusters are part of the approximately 300 members of the Holocaust Survivor Group that has settled in southern Nevada and Henry was President Emeritus of the group. He published his memoir, Abraham's Son-the Making of an American, in 2010.
On March 20, 1977, Jackie Ogden interviewed Irene Doty (born 1914 in Dangerfield, Texas) about her life in Southern Nevada. Doty first talks about the first casino properties and restaurants in Las Vegas along with some of the other businesses and operations of the area. She also describes some of her experiences as a justice of the peace, conditions during World War II, and the clothing fashion of the time. Doty also talks about some of her experiences in Goodsprings, Nevada, and about her experiences as a juror and potential juror in several murder trials. The interview concludes with a discussion on housing development and gambling in Las Vegas.