John Paul Wanderer was born February 20, 1940 in Yonkers, New York. The son of attorney Emilie Wanderer, he came to Las Vegas, Nevada with his mother and siblings in 1946. He attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and earned a Bachelor of Science degree, then graduated from Arizona State University School of Law in 1974. That same year, Wanderer and his mom established their own practice in Las Vegas, Wanderer & Wanderer.
Suzie Chenin was born August 28, 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio. The next year, her parents, Joseph and Irene Chenin, moved the family to Las Vegas, Nevada. Her father, a dentist, was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, becoming the first Jewish dentist in the state – and only the thirtieth overall. After graduating from Las Vegas High School, Chenin attended Arizona State University. However, she quit school and moved to Los Angeles, California where she got a job with a large real estate developer. This was her first foray into the industry.
Dr. Fiona Kelley was born and raised in Connecticut. Her parents were both teachers (though her mother quit teaching to raise their two daughters), and the family would take European vacations every summer, exploring castles and enjoying picnic lunches.
Ann Meyers (born Anna Sipl) was born on April 26, 1943, in Krindija, Yugoslavia, now Croatia, near the Danube. Her family was part of the ethnic German population that was persecuted, massacred or expelled by Marshal Josip Broz Tito’s Partisans to the neighboring village of Gakowa, which became a concentration camp during World War II. After struggling for years in Austria, Meyer’s father applied to immigrate to the United States. They were refused asylum twice, the first time because of her Oma's [grandmother’s] and again because of Michael's infirmity.
Priscilla (Kahn) Schwartz was born to Hyman and Elizabeth Kahn, August 3, 1938 in Buffalo, New York. Schwartz became the first member of her family to graduate from college when she received her degree in nursing from the University of Michigan.
Jerry Engel was born in 1930 in New Jersey and spent most of his early life in Long Beach, New York until the family moved westward to Los Angeles in 1945. Jerry is a retired Certified Public Accountant and loves to talk about the history of Las Vegas that he observed since arriving in 1953. That was the year that he moved to Las Vegas to join his older brothers, Morris and Phil, in their accounting firm. Their major client at the time was Desert Inn.
Melody Hope Stein was born March 26, 1948 in Oceanside, Long Island, New York. She got her education from SUNY Binghamton, Harpur College, and Hofstra University. She taught art education for 46 years, in New York before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1996. She served for fourteen years as the arts director and art teacher at the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Educational Campus (formerly Milton I Schwartz Hebrew Academy) in Summerlin, Nevada.
Janellen Radoff was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her mother was a local radio/TV personality with her own show and her father was a successful real estate entrepreneur. Radoff attended the University of Michigan studying at the school of architecture and design. Before moving to Nevada, her career path included Restaurant Associates, a short stint as a Girl Friday for Johnny Carson, and freelance product design while starting a family.
Natalie Wolf was born and raised Jewish in New York City. She met her husband Rowland (Ron), also a New York native, on a blind date. They married in 1959 and settled into raising a family. Two of their three sons, Mitch, Kelly and Jamie, were also born in New York. They were ages 6 and 3 when the family moved to their new home on the desert in 1971. Unwillingly to move without a job, Natalie and her husband Ron were receptive to her sister Rita Park’s suggestion that the couple join her in the management of the Greyhound Bus Station.
Buddy Frank grew up in Reno, Nevada and graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno. Frank worked in television news before getting into the gaming industry as a public relations manager at Fitzgeralds Reno in 1986 where he would also later become director of marketing and director of slot operations. Frank then moved to the Eldorado Hotel and Casino in 1995 where he became the director of slot operations as well; he would later join the Atlantis Casino Resort in 1998 to become executive director of slot operations.