Yvonne Fried, M.D., and Joan “Joni” Fried are the daughters of Milton and Esther Fried, the founders of Freed’s Bakery—the standard to which all other Las Vegas bakeries are held. When the Fried family moved to Las Vegas in 1955, Joni was born here, the fifth child, of the entrepreneurial Milton, a musician by night, and his industrious wife Esther, who guided the family business. As Esther’s 2006 obituary reads: in 1959 the couple opened “a snack bar, selling donuts and Danish, at the Panorama Market on West Charleston, while Milt played in the show band at the Sahara Hotel in the evenings.” For Yvonne and Joni, this made for a rather busy and interesting household to grow up in. Their Jewish upbringing was at Temple Beth Sholom. Photo above honors the multi-generations of the Freed’s Bakery tradition: (L-R) Joni Fried, Anthony & Sarah Fusco (Joni’s daughter) Max Jacobson Fried (Yvonne’s son) holding his son Lucas, and (far right) is his wife Emilia.
Ruth Pearson Urban was born in 1948 in Los Angeles, California. At the age of ten, she moved to Las Vegas with her mother and older sister. Urban spent most of her childhood in the Huntridge area and was always heavily involved with Temple Beth Sholom. After graduating from Las Vegas High School, Urban attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where she received a bachelor’s degree in social work, and later, a master’s degree in counseling.
Deanne Alterwitz-Stralser (née Friedman) was born January 1, 1931 in Hammond, Indiana, the daughter of an insurance salesman and a stay-at-home mom. Alterwitz-Stralser spent her childhood in Calumet City, just across the state line in Illinois, and was raised with a strong Jewish identity. At the age of sixteen, she met her husband, Oscar Alterwitz, at an Alpha Zadik Alpha (AZA) dance in Gary, Indiana, and the two were married in 1950.
Robert D. "Bob" Fisher is a Las Vegas, Nevada broadcast personality and lobbyist. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and moved to Las Vegas to around 1992 when he was hired as the founding president and CEO of the Nevada Broadcasters Association (NVBA). During his 22 years as head of the NVBA, he produced and hosted Observations, a public affairs program broadcasted on radio and television throughout the state of Nevada.
Gertrude Rudiak was born August 2, 1915 in North Dakota to Russian immigrants. She grew up in Wisconsin until 1924. That year, her family drove to California via the Yellowstone Trail. Her father had a chiropractic practice in Los Angeles, California. After Rudiak earned a music degree at the University of California at Berkeley, she attended a business college, and she got a job as a social worker in northern California.