Courtesy photo
E. Parry and Peggy Thomas are pictured in a photo provided by the family. Peggy Thomas died Sept. 3, 2023, at age 97.
Monday, Sept. 4, 2023 | 4:15 p.m.
When the Thomas family moved from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas in the 1950s, E. Parry promised his wife Peggy they’d only stay for two years as he helped Continental Bank & Trust Company get established here.
Those two years turned into many memorable decades for the family — and for Las Vegas residents.
E. Parry Thomas, a visionary banker, helped finance the development of the casino industry in Las Vegas.
Behind the scenes, Peggy Thomas was a supporting force, their son Tom Thomas recalled. Peggy Thomas died Sunday at the family's ranch in Idaho. She was 97.
“While my dad was busy running the bank, my mom raised five kids and supported my dad in everything he was doing to build his career and this city,” Tom Thomas said.
That growth included providing the financial banking for the Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center and for the Boulevard mall, which provided Las Vegans their first centralized mega-retail facility.
The family were passionate supporters of UNLV. E. Parry Thomas teamed with real estate investor Jerry Mack to donate land to the university for the construction of the Thomas & Mack Center.
When it was time to retire, the couple left Las Vegas to pursue one of Peggy Thomas’ dreams: raising horses. They built the River Grove Farm equestrian facility in Hailey, Idaho, and Peggy rode daily into her mid-80s.
“She loved working with horses,” Tom Thomas said.
And she was good at it. The facility produced multiple dressage world champions.
Peggy Thomas was preceded in death by E. Parry, who died in 2016. They were married 69 years.
She is survived by children Peter (Nancy) Thomas, Roger (Arthur Libera) Thomas, Steven (Karen) Thomas, Tom (Leslie) Thomas, and Jane (Peter) Sturdivant. She is additionally survived by 13 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren.
Services are private.
