In 1947, businessman Nate Mack took his newly arrived daughter-in-law for a drive. They pulled up on a hill overlooking the fledgling Las Vegas Strip, then just a handful of hotels and casinos surrounded by dusty desert and tumbleweeds.

As Joyce Mack remembered: "He said, 'Honey, I want you to look down and tell me what you see.’ I said, ‘I don't see anything except cactus and nothing…’ He said, ‘Well, I'll tell you what I see. I see a town there, a city there. There's going to be churches. There's going to be houses. There's going to be stores. Wherever you look… this is going to be filled up with civilization, with people.”

By the time Joyce shared this story during a 2015 UNLV oral history interview, the vision was reality. Las Vegas had grown into a world-class tourist destination and home to more than 2 million people, with a growing economy and thriving university. 

In her 99 years, Joyce watched it all unfold, from her unique vantage point as one fourth of two power couples who helped build modern Las Vegas through banking and real estate development: Joyce and Jerome “Jerry” Mack and Peggy and E. Parry Thomas. Their company name, Thomas & Mack, tops the UNLV's events arena, and that sits atop the land that they helped the university acquire for what is now its Maryland Parkway campus.

Joyce was a Las Vegas founding mother and a driving force in its cultural growth. With her passing on Oct. 11, 2024, a dazzling chapter in the city’s history comes to a close. But, her impact lives on at UNLV and in the city’s arts and human services organizations, in its synagogues, and within the next generation of philanthropists.

“Joyce Mack’s life has a very unique context that probably doesn’t exist anymore,” said Tom Thomas, a lifelong friend and one of the five Thomas children. “She felt that Las Vegas was part of her life blood.

“Dad and Jerry looked to the future of the economy, but Mom and Joyce were looking at the future of the community. They were going to raise their kids here. They were a driving force for what this community needed to look like.”

California + Nevada = Love

Born Joyce Rosenberg on Aug. 17, 1925, in Los Angeles, California, she was in the middle of six children (three brothers and two sisters) and recalled a lively, welcoming home where her mother cooked for the whole family, plus visitors. Her father was a builder, and the family often moved after he sold the homes they lived in, she said. 

As a teen, Joyce liked to attend parties at UCLA with her brother Jack, who started bringing home one of his fraternity brothers, Jerry, a business student. “He came to the house all the time,” she remembered. “We always felt really sorry for him because he didn't have any parents down in Los Angeles. So, he'd come in and eat cold spaghetti out of the fridge.  And we thought, Oh, poor Jerry. Then he started asking me out, and that's how that happened."

When her brother and Jerry graduated in the same class, Joyce was there to see them graduate. She also studied sociology and psychology at UCLA. After Jerry returned from serving in World War II, she left college in 1946 to marry him.

The glamorous young couple took off in his red convertible for a two-month cross-country honeymoon that took them to New York City for Broadway musicals. Joyce said she loved driving the car and flashing her new diamond wedding ring, though she did have to leave some of her trousseau behind in Palm Springs because it wouldn’t fit in the trunk.

Soon after, Jerry brought Joyce to Las Vegas to witness the opening of Bugsy Siegel’s new Flamingo casino. Jerry’s father had built a thriving business providing auto parts and services to Hoover Dam workers in Boulder City. He wanted the young couple to join him in developing property he’d bought, so he offered them land. 

By then, Joyce and Jerry’s daughters, Karen and Barbara, had been born. 

Joyce remembered that Jerry asked her to move, and she shrugged and agreed. “What did I know? I’m 22 years old. So, we moved to Las Vegas… his family was glad to have me and Jerry around so he could start subdividing the property.”

Growing Families in “Sin City”

Jerry and Joyce thrived in Las Vegas. Jerry's father, Nate Mack had identified the need for a local bank and began recuriting bankers from Salt Lake City, Utah. One of those young men was E. Parry Thomas, who brought his young Mormon family to Las Vegas. It was Nate who decided Jerry and Parry would make great business partners, and he gifted Parry with land to get started. 

The two families founded the Bank of Las Vegas in 1954, lending to gaming operators at a time when other banks wouldn’t fund them. Their deals supported the creation of the Golden Nugget, Sahara, Stardust, Dunes, Circus Circus, and many other properties, and at one point they owned the Riviera. Together, they also lobbied for corporate casino ownership in Nevada.

As the city grew as a tourist destination, the couples regularly rubbed shoulders with the Rat Pack and other celebrities.

Through it all, the Mack and Thomas families built a special and enduring bond. The Mack daughters, Barbara, Karen, and Marilynn, remain close to the Thomas children, Tom, Peter, Roger, Steve, and Jane. Growing up, they called each other’s parents aunt and uncle, vacationed and spent holidays together, and were often in each other’s homes. 

“I was 7 or 8 years old before I realized we weren’t really related,” Tom said. 

Their tight circle included other prominent Las Vegas families, such as the Greenspuns and Molaskys. Every Mother’s Day, the families gathered at the Las Vegas Country Club for a celebratory luncheon that grew to include grandchildren.

Tom remembers how Joyce took his mother under her wing. "My mom came from Salt Lake, very conservative. Joyce really introduced her to Las Vegas society and the Jewish community. They were very oriented to their Jewish faith, very family oriented.”

Later, when Tom returned to Las Vegas after attending law school in Utah, Joyce did the same for his wife, Leslie. “She would take her around and introduce her to her friends and her friends’ daughters. That was her nature. She enjoyed introducing people to ‘her’ Vegas.”

Together, the Thomas and Mack families lived a charmed life, full of summer trips to Catalina Island in California, family lunches, and boating on Lake Mead. Karen Mack Goldsmith remembers Joyce as “a wonderful mother. She was very active but always made time for us.” 

Simple memories stand out, like day trips to the dentist in Boulder City and her mom serving as her Girl Scout Brownie Troop leader. 

Joyce was also incredibly elegant and stylish, Karen said. “She always looked beautiful. Even just for dinner with us. Our friends loved coming to our house.”

Building a University and Community

Among the values the Thomas and Mack families shared was philanthropy. In the 1950s, Jerry and Parry learned the university (then Nevada Southern) did not own enough land. Jerry was on the board of UCLA; Parry was on the board of the University of Utah. They both knew how much space a university required.

So, they set about amassing 400 acres around the college, which eventually became UNLV. Later, they donated $1 million to spark the development of the Thomas & Mack Center. Their kids, Peter and Karen, flipped a coin to decide whose name should be listed first.

The couples were huge UNLV sports fans, and Joyce was known for wearing all red when she cheered on the Runnin’ Rebels basketball team – at home and away. “She loved her Rebels gear,” Karen said. 

The families were instrumental in the founding of the UNLV's William S. Boyd School of Law, which Joyce continued to support after Jerry’s death in 1998. She donated millions of dollars to UNLV’s legal clinic and moot court so students could learn to do pro bono work. In 2008, she received the Silver State Award from the UNLV Alumni Association. In 2021, the law school declared her a Nevada Woman of Valor. 

“Joyce Mack was a vibrant, optimistic, and nice person, who was a good friend to me and a great supporter of the law school,” said Dick Morgan, the law school's founding dean emeritus. The Thomas and Mack families were visionary in their support for the university and law school.

“I think she took pride in what she helped to create. I know that I was proud to have Joyce’s support and friendship. And I remain immensely proud of what she helped build,” Morgan said.

At the legal clinic’s 15th anniversary, Joyce shared a sentiment she expressed often. “There is an old saying: Education is the soul of society as it passes from one generation to another,” she said. “I hope all of you enjoy the university, knowing it’s the greatest gift we can give our children.”

“It’s this type of attitude — her unwavering belief in the good that UNLV could accomplish — that made Joyce so special. She has made a remarkable impact on the foundation, the university, and the community,” UNLV Foundation President Rickey N. McCurry said.

For 25 years, Joyce served on the UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees, where her daughter Marilynn and Tom Thomas now serve. “She would not miss a dinner,” Tom said, referring to the Foundation's annual event. She was also a key funder of the Lenahan, Saltman, Thomas and Mack Professorship in UNLV’s College of Fine Arts, which supports the work of artist Tim Bavington.

UNLV President Keith E. Whitfield called Joyce “a true icon in our community. Her passion and support for Las Vegas, and what it could become, helped lay the foundation for UNLV from our earliest days and throughout our evolution into the thriving major public research university we are today. She was a constant positive influence for UNLV and for so many worthy organizations throughout Southern Nevada, and her impact will be remembered for generations to come.”

Roger Thomas, now an acclaimed designer who created many of the Strip’s most elegant hotel interiors, simply remembers “Aunt Joyce” as his biggest cheerleader. Over 45 years, she joined him in numerous artistic ventures, including the Nevada Institute for Contemporary Art, always working to establish a permanent art museum in Vegas. 

“I don’t think I would have the same career or life without her,” Roger said. Even when projects ended, “Joyce was always one of the last ones standing in support, and I was right next to her.”

Joyce also helped fund Nevada Ballet Theatre, and supported Planned Parenthood, the Smith Center, and Opportunity Village. The Mack family helped found Temple Beth Sholom, and Joyce donated to the sanctuary at Henderson’s Congregation Ner Tamid, where U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen served as president.

In a media statement, Rosen called Joyce a “relentless force for good and for uplifting others around her… It was a privilege to watch her make a lasting impact on Las Vegas as she worked to build a better future for everyone. She will be deeply missed.”

Tom said Joyce was especially proud of watching Opportunity Village grow into a model nonprofit serving those with disabilities and their families. “She had gone through quite a few years of being looked down upon for living in Las Vegas back when it was seriously called ‘Sin City,’” he said. “She loved that organizations around the country [now] looked to us as best-in-class.”

Late Life Adventures

Joyce remained active and independent in her later years. In her 70s, she began walking for miles every day, often alone. When friends moved to newer luxury neighborhoods, she embraced her historic Las Vegas Country Club residence, just east of the Strip. 

She and Jerry were major players in the Democratic party, and Joyce supported local and national candidates. She met with presidents of both parties, including Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush.

She loved her week-long trips to New York City with her daughters to see the latest Broadway shows and she also traveled with Marilynn to watch major tennis matches at the U.S. Open, Wimbledon, and Australian Open.

She often took boat trips to Mexico, Canada, and the San Juan Islands in Washington state with a crew, family, or friends, and she hiked in Alaskan bear country when she was 90 years old.

Just last summer, she was still climbing in and out of the dinghy on the family’s annual trip to Catalina Island. “She was very independent. She never stopped,” Karen said. “She was intellectually vibrant until the very end.”

A Powerful Giving Legacy

Joyce’s legacy lives on at UNLV, and in the many Las Vegas arts, social service, and religious organizations she funded and supported.

It lives on in the accomplishments of her children and grandchildren, many of whom completed impressive educations. Barbara Mack trained as a psychologist and is a renowned photographer. Karen Mack Goldsmith earned a law degree, then became a television producer and award-winning author. Marilynn Mack attended UCLA and carries on Joyce’s philanthropic and UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees work, along with Tom Thomas.

Joyce’s legacy also lives on through the Thomas children and Thomas & Mack Development Group, now headed by Tom and Peter Thomas, both attorneys, with profits still split equally between the families. Steven Thomas is an orthopedic surgeon. Jane Thomas Sturdivant is an artist and recreational dressage rider.

Roger Thomas is closing in on the decades-long goal to create a Las Vegas art museum, now in partnership with Elaine Wynn. With land secured near the Smith Center and an architect selected, their dream is just a few years from realization – another Vegas vision comes to life. Roger was able to share the museum’s progress with Joyce before she passed.

“She has been a leader, a supporter, a cheerleader, a thinker, and a contributor of both funds and energetic thought,” Roger said. She poured positivity, resources and energy into the city and causes she cared for. “As Joyce would always say, ‘What’s not to love?’”

Some quotes for this story were drawn from Joyce Mack’s 2015 oral history interview for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project at UNLV University Libraries and from a historical video provided by Thomas and Mack families.