Eva G. Simmons was born in Somerville, Texas December 31, 1938. She grew up in Austin, Texas. Simmons moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1963. She worked for the Clark County School District, and has an elementary school in North Las Vegas, Nevada named for her. Eva Goins Simmons never imagined moving to Las Vegas, Nevada, but she moved here twice: Once briefly in 1957 to be with her sister and then again continuously in 1963 after graduating from University of Texas, Austin and marrying her husband George Simmons.
Sandy C. Thomas is better known as Sonny. Sonny Thomas was born in Fordyce, Arkansas on Feburary 6, 1940. In 1959, Sonny arrived in Las Vegas looking for the promised employment opportunities. His first job was as a bus boy at El Rancho. Over the course of the next thirty years, he moved from one job to another, each time gaining more responsibility. His last hotel role was as shipping and receiving manager at the MGM. While working at the MGM, Sonny finally secured a part-time second job with Davis Funeral Home.
Charlotte Kelly was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. She came to Las Vegas, Nevada at the age of two years old when her fathered was transferred to a position with the INternational Harvester Agency. Kelly worked in real estate.
Lonnie G. Wright was born in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1952. His grandmother worked as a maid for prominent Las Vegans. Wright played basketball at UNLV and became a successful local educator and businessman. Dr. Lonnie G. Wright is the director of, and a professor in, the College of Southern Nevada’s hotel management program within the school’s hospitality management department.