Sabbath, Dennis, 1943-2000

Dennis Sabbath (1943-2000) was a prominent lawyer and community leader in Las Vegas, Nevada. Born July 17, 1943 in New York City, he grew up in Washington, D.C. He attended the University of Maryland and the University of Chicago Law School. In 1967 he married Roberta Sterman. The couple moved to Kodiak, Alaska in 1969 where Dennis performed legal services such as marriages, guardianships, and adoptions through the programs Legal Aid and Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA). After about two years in Alaska, the Sabbaths moved to Las Vegas. Dennis Sabbath was a lifelong Democrat and actively involved in politics. He ran for Nevada State Senate in District 5 in 1986, but lost to Republican Bill O'Donnell. He was member of the Jewish Federation Young Leadership group and was chairman of the board of the Hebrew Academy. He also practiced law, representing the Culinary Workers Union, and later, the Musicians Union and the Steelworkers Union. In 1991 he co-authored the Chemical Catastrophe Prevention Act after several chemical accidents occurred in Henderson, Nevada in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the PEPCON explosion in 1988.