Longtime Las Vegas businesswoman, philanthropist Jean Tobman dies at 90

By Ricardo Torres-Cortez

Published Saturday, April 23, 2016 | 10:52 p.m.

Updated Sunday, April 24, 2016 | 5:04 p.m.

Jean Tobman, widow of entrepreneur and civic leader Herb Tobman, remained involved in the family business and passionate about philanthropic causes into her twilight years, according to her daughters.

She was surrounded by family members when she died Saturday morning, daughter Marilyn Moran said. She was 90.

After Herb Tobman’s death 10 years ago, Jean Tobman “jumped in and filled in my father’s shoes” helping to run Western Cab Co., Moran said. “And they were big shoes to fill.”

Jean and Herb Tobman were instrumental in founding WestCare, a Las Vegas drug rehabilitation clinic, which now has locations in 17 states.

The Tobmans bore witness to formative decades in Las Vegas history, having arrived in 1953 after visiting Jean Tobman's mother, who had recently moved here.

"We drove back to New Jersey, packed up as quickly as possible to come to this beautiful, beautiful desert," Jean Tobman said Nov. 5, 2013, in an interview with the Oral History Research Center at UNLV.

And the Las Vegas Valley was a good fit.

"The serenity, the warmth, just everybody knew everyone," she said in 2013. "There was no discrimination. Everybody got along so beautifully."

After arriving in Las Vegas, Jean Tobman worked in her mother's rooming house while Herb Tobman worked with her father at City Furniture Exchange on Main Street, she said in the UNLV interview.

Herb Tobman had taken out a $1,200 loan to invest in the furniture store, but a blaze destroyed it in 1955. He bought his first taxi about the same time, and the family's cab business was born.

The furniture store reopened and was family-run for another 20 years.

Jean Tobman's philanthropic endeavors included donating to the University of Nevada School of Medicine for an ongoing scholarship, according to the school. UNR’s medical school student lounge is named after the Tobmans. She also supported veterans and contributed to the business and athletic departments at UNLV.

The family will ensure Jean Tobman’s philanthropic spirit lives on.

"You know, she was the whole thing,” her daughters said in a statement. "She was the matriarch and the glue for this family; now it’s going to be up to the next generation to continue that legacy."

Tobman is survived by her daughter Marilyn Moran and her husband, John; daughter Helen Martin and her former spouse, Tom; daughter Janie Moore and her husband, Barry; grandchildren J.T. (Melissa), Addie (Kurt), Zachary, Andrew (Yolanda), Jaime (J), Rachel, Blake and Mia; and nine great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her son Alan Tobman, her grandson Alan Joseph Martin and her husband.

Services are scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday at Palm Mortuary at 1325 N Main St. In lieu of flowers, the family said, donations can be made to WestCare Foundation.