Edward Parry Thomas (June 29, 1921 – August 26, 2016) was an American

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

who helped finance the development of the

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

industry of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. Along with his business partner,

Jerome D. Mack Jerome D. Mack (a.k.a. Jerry Mack) (November 6, 1920 – September 26, 1998) was an American banker, real estate investor, political fundraiser and philanthropist in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada. He was the founder and president of the Ban ...

, he is credited with building Las Vegas into what it is today.

Early life

Thomas was born on June 29, 1921, in

Ogden, Utah Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...

.John G. Edwards
E. Parry Thomas
''

Las Vegas Review-Journal The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area. The ''Review-Journal'' ...

'', February 7, 1999 He was raised in

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church). His father was a plumbing contractor who later became a banker. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

as an intelligence operative.University of Nevada, Las Vegas: Jerome D. Mack
/ref>

Banking career

Thomas started his career at the Continental Bank & Trust Co. of

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. It was owned by Walter E. Cosgriff, who also owned a stake in the

Bank of Las Vegas A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

, whose Chairman was

Nate Mack Nathan Mack (1891–1965) was a Polish-born American banker. He was the co-founder of the Bank of Nevada and Temple Beth Sholom. Early life Nathan Mack was born to a Jewish family on January 27, 1891, in Mielec, Poland. He had two brothers, Harr ...

. The Bank of Las Vegas was the first bank to lend money to casinos in Las Vegas.Chris Sieroty
Bank takes famous name, poises for future
''Las Vegas Review-Journal'', April 29, 2012 Its first loan was to

Milton Prell Milton Prell (September 6, 1905 – June 2, 1974) was a hotel owner and developer most notable for his projects in Las Vegas, Nevada. Early life Prell was born to a Jewish family in Saint Louis, Missouri; as a young man he moved to Los Angeles, Ca ...

, who used it to build the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

casino. Later,

replaced his father as Chairman.David Schwartz, ''Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Beyond'', Routledge, 2013, p. 11

/ref> Meanwhile, in 1961, shortly after Cosgriff's death, Thomas became its President. He facilitated loans from the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund to Las Vegas casinos. In 1968 the bank merged with Valley Bank of Reno and changed its name to the Valley Bank of Nevada. Thomas and Mack also invested in real estate in the Las Vegas area, with Thomas acting as a buyer for

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

. Later, they also lent money to

Steve Wynn Stephen Alan Wynn (''né'' Weinberg; born January 27, 1942) is an American real estate developer and art collector. He is known for his involvement in the American luxury casino and hotel industry. Early in his career he oversaw the construction ...

.A.D. Hopkinlas
Steve Wynn
''Las Vegas Review-Journal'', September 12, 1999 The bank was eventually acquired by

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...

for about $380.5 million in 1992.

Politics

Thomas was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

.Karen Mack
The Big Secret
''The Los Angeles Times'', April 5, 2009 With Jerry Mack, Thomas lobbied influential Nevada businessman

Bill Harrah William Fisk Harrah (September 2, 1911 – June 30, 1978) was an American businessman and the founder of Harrah's Hotel and Casinos, now part of Caesars Entertainment. Early years and education Harrah was born in South Pasadena, California, the ...

as well as former Governors

Grant Sawyer Frank Grant Sawyer (December 14, 1918 – February 19, 1996) was an American politician. He was the List of Governors of Nevada, 21st Governor of Nevada from 1959 to 1967. He was a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. ...

and

Paul Laxalt Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

to pass two acts legalizing the corporate ownership of casinos. They were known as the Corporate Gaming Acts in 1967 and 1969. According to Mack's daughter

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...

, these laws aimed to put an end to corruption in Las Vegas, as it enforced more regulations and disclosures for the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

Philanthropy

With Jerry Mack, Thomas donated 400 additional acres of land to expand the campus of the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

(UNLV). The two men also funded the construction of the basketball stadium at UNLV, which was named the

Thomas & Mack Center The Thomas & Mack Center is a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada. It is home of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team of the Mountain West Conference. History The facility was fi ...

in their honor. Later, the Thomas & Mack Legal Clinic at the

William S. Boyd School of Law The William S. Boyd School of Law is the law school of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the only law school in Nevada. It is named after William S. Boyd, a Nevada attorney and co-founder of Boyd Gaming Corporation who provided the in ...

as well as the Thomas & Mack Moot Court Building were also named after them.UNLV Foundation: A Conversation with Joyce Mack
May 13, 2013 Thomas received an honorary Doctorate from UNLV in 1982.

Dressage

With his wife, Thomas sponsored dressage; both his wife and daughter Jane ride. Dressage trainer and competitor

Debbie McDonald Debbie McDonald (born August 27, 1954) is an American dressage equestrianism, rider who has competed in the Equestrian at the Summer Olympics, Olympics and many international competitions. She now lives in Hailey, Idaho, with her husband Bob, a h ...

taught his daughter. He and his wife owned

Brentina Brentina (foaled May 29, 1991) was an Olympic-level dressage horse ridden by Debbie McDonald. She was owned by E. Parry Thomas.

, a prize-winning, Olympic Bronze medalist dressage horse.Latest Novel From Best Selling Author, Dressage Rider Tami Roag Goes On Sale
''Dressage News'', December 21, 2009 They also sponsor

Adrienne Lyle Adrienne Lyle (born 2 January 1985 in Coupeville, Washington) is an American Olympic dressage rider. Representing the United States, she competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London where she finished 37th in the individual competition, and t ...

, a dressage competitor.

Personal life

Thomas was married to Peggy.Steve Friess
Unbridled Enthusiasm: The Sun Valley Sin City Connection
''Sun Valley Magazine'', Winter 2011 They had four sons and one daughter. They summered at their

dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...

farm called River Grove Farm in Hailey, near

Sun Valley, Idaho Sun Valley is a resort city in the western United States, in Blaine County, Idaho, adjacent to the city of Ketchum in the Wood River valley. The population was 1406 at the 2010 census, down from 1427 in 2000.Del Mar, California Del Mar (; Spanish for "Of the Sea") is a beach town in San Diego County, California, located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Established in 1885 as a seaside resort, the city incorporated in 1959. The Del Mar Horse Races are hosted on the De ...

. Two of his sons,

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

and Tom, manage Thomas & Mack, the family real estate development firm in Las Vegas. Another son, Roger Thomas is an interior designer; he has designed many casinos for Steve Wynn, both in the United States and in China. His son Dr. Steven Thomas is an orthopedic surgeon in Las Vegas and graduated from Johns Hopkins. One of his grandsons, David Peter Thomas, died of an undisclosed cause in

Blaine County, Idaho Blaine County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 24,272. The county seat and largest city is Hailey, Idaho, Hailey. It is also home to the Sun Valley, Idaho, Su ...

, in 2003, at the age of 28. E. Parry died on August 26, 2016, at his ranch in

Hailey, Idaho Hailey is a city in and the county seat of Blaine County, in the Wood River Valley of the central part of the U.S. state of Idaho. The population was 7,960 at the 2010 census, up from 6,200 in 2000.1921 births 2016 deaths Businesspeople from Ogden, Utah Businesspeople from Las Vegas People from Sun Valley, Idaho People from Del Mar, California American Latter Day Saints American bankers Dressage American racehorse owners and breeders 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists United States Army personnel of World War II