Search the Special Collections and Archives Portal
Search Results
Merida, Otto, 1945-
"Occupation: President and CEO, Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce; Latin Chamber Pioneer:Born in Havana, Cuba, Otto Merida came to America as a political refugee in 1961. He made his way to Las Vegas in 1974, where he worked for the Nevada Department of Education and the Comprehensive Employment and Training Program. In the late 1970s, Merida helped establish the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce. Today, it has more than 1,500 members. Merida also is the past chair of the Las Vegas Housing Authority. In 1999, Gov.
Person
Portaro, Ron M., 1955-
Ron M. Portaro was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Pennsylvania State University at Altoona. He also attended University of Toledo. Portaro moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1993.
Person
Agonia, Robert, 1938-
Robert "Bob" James Agonia was born August 3, 1938 on a migrant camp in Garden Grove, California. Agonia served in the Peace Corps in El Salvador. He later worked for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Agonia worked as Chief Contractor and for Human Resources at the Nevada Test Site Department of Energy.
Person
Garcia-Mendoza, Eva, 1950-
Eva Garcia Mendoza was raised in McAllen, Texas. Mendoza works as an attorney.
Person
Sallee, Nafeesa
Nafeesa Sallee was born In Cleveland, Ohio on March 10, 1946. Sallee married in 1968. Her husband was offered a teaching and wrestling coach position by the Clark County School District in 1978 and they moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Nafeesa secured a job as the "oldest teller on the line" at the First Western Savings & Loan. Over the course of the next three-plus decades, she would work her way from teller to vault teller to new accounts manager and into branch management for what eventually became Wells Fargo Bank.
Person
Simmons, Eva G.
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.
Person
Thomas, Sonny
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.
Person