Eppenger-D'Hondt, Ruth

Ruth D'Hondt was born and reared in Las Vegas, Nevada, living on Jackson Street where her family owned Mattie's Cafe. The restaurant provided not just great food but employment for D’hondt and her five brothers and sisters. In 1959, the family moved to Berkley Square.

As a young woman, D’hondt became inspired by the look and lifestyle of both San Francisco, California and Seattle, Washington where she lived for ten years. When she returned in 1976, Berkley Square had matured and D’hondt moved into a home on the same street where she played as a school girl. She secured employment among the first wave of black women who did not have to toil in the back-of-the-house of the hotel casino industry. Instead she served cocktails at the Marina Hotel (now known as the MGM Grand Hotel), the Castaways Hotel and Casino, and then twenty-six years at Caesars Palace Hotel.

As of 2012, D’hondt volunteered as president of the Berkley Square Neighborhood Association and was instrumental in working with the city of Las Vegas to have the community declared an historic neighborhood.