The naming of a new Las Vegas elementary school in memory of a Las Vegas pioneer, Nate Mack, the first public school in Nevada to be named for a Jew, will be marked in formal ceremonies here tomorrow.
Jerry Mack, the son of Nate, said the Las Vegan Board of School Trustees, an elective body, followed a policy of naming planned schools after Nevada pioneers and that the trustees had named Nate Mack for a planned elementary school in Las Vegas along with several other such school designations. He confirmed this was the first Nevada public school honoring a Jewish family.
The Nate Mack elementary school opened in September, 1980, about two years after the naming procedure by the school trustees according to the son, who is vice chairman of the board of the Valley Bank of Nevada, second largest bank in Nevada, and co-chairman of the Israel Bond campaign in Las Vegas.
Nate Mack, who died in 1963, was a founder of the Bank of Las Vegas and its first chairman, a post he held until his death. The son said that the first services to be held in southern Nevada with the required minyan were held for a time in his father’s home, starting in 1930.
Nate Mack also was founder of the Las Vegas Jewish Community Center, which later become the present Conservative Temple Beth Sholom. Nate Mack served the synagogue as its first president for 13 years. The son said his father had been deeply involved in its early years. The son estimated the Las Vegas Jewish population at around 4,500.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
