Rabbi Malcolm Cohen was born on October 7, 1973 in London, England. His mother worked as an office assistant, and his father ran a bookshop and also prepared youth for their bar and bat mitzvahs. It was his father’s dedication to Jewish education and service that influenced his career path. After earning a degree in psychology from Southampton University, Cohen went on to get a professional qualification in youth and community work.
Harry Kogan was born March 11, 1916 to poor Russian immigrant parents in the Jewish ghetto of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kogan sometimes walked to school shoeless, with no hat nor a raincoat. A treat would be his mother handing him ten-cents to go to the theater and enjoy a silent movie. After graduating from high school in 1933, Kogan quickly took one of the rare jobs available in a garment manufacturing company where he worked his way into being a skilled and valued fabric cutter—a job that paid $35 a week.
Andrew Scott Katz was born January 9, 1962, in New York City, New York. By 1964, Mike Katz, his father, was well-known in Las Vegas, Nevada for providing an answering service and subsequently for opening the Manpower franchise to serve the growing town. In time, this family business grew and the eldest sons, Bob and Mel opened franchises in Salt Lake City, Utah and San Diego, California, respectively.
Bobby Morris (born Boruch Moishe Stempelman) was born June 30, 1927 and immigrated from Wilno, Poland to Brooklyn, New York in 1937. His passion for drumming was ignited soon after, and he began shining shoes to pay for drumming lessons from Henry Adler. At the age of thirteen, Morris got his first gig playing at the Musicians Union in the Catskill Mountains during the summer. He soon developed a career playing jazz around town with different artists while simultaneously studying at the Manhattan School of Music.
Daryl Morris, born July 18, 1961 in Las Vegas, Nevada, he is one of three sons born to Paula and Bobby Morris. His day job was in insurance, but his great love was for acting. He was smitten at the age of 11 and took acting lessons as a youngster, and later studied with actor Jeff Goldblum. He had an impressive list of films in which he has appeared, including the opening scene of Mall Cop 2. He enjoyed voice-over acting and teaching acting classes. He served in the Navy and attended UNLV.
Laura Sussman was born March 26, 1956 in Cleveland, Ohio where there was a robust Jewish community. She moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1997. The Jewish Community Center (JCC) hired her as its first executive director. She was a director for eight years, then executive director at Temple Beth Sholom. Sussman met her wife, Wendy Kraft, through their work with the JCC and love followed. Several years later, in 2009, so did their new business, Kraft-Sussman Funeral and Cremation services.
Yvonne Fried, M.D., is the fourth child of five born to Milton and Esther Fried, the founders of Freed’s Bakery. In 1955, Yvonne arrived in Las Vegas as the little sister with three older brothers. Their father was a musician, who ventured into the snack bar business, which he grew with his enterprising wife. Yvonne became a medical physician and lives in Oregon. Yvonne is married to Martin Jacobson. They have three children: David, Daniela, and Max Jacobson-Fried.
Michael Baller was born December 1, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan. In 1954 as a teenager, he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada and grew up in the Crestwood area. He attended Las Vegas High School, where he met his wife, Susan Lockitch. The two were married in 1960 at Temple Beth Sholom, once he returned from his service in the United States Marine Corps.