Las Vegan who championed Holocaust education dies at 95
A longtime proponent of social and religious justice, Edythe Katz-Yarchever helped make history in the Las Vegas community.
She died of cancer on Aug. 31 at age 95.
She was best known for opening the Sperling Kronberg Mack Las Vegas Holocaust Resource Center, 4794 S. Eastern Ave. The center holds a library of books and materials on the Holocaust. Nazi Germany's killing of Europe's Jews has been called one of the most extensive and shocking acts of genocide in human history.
Born Edythe Sperling in Boston on July 6, 1920, she experienced prejudice in her community and school because she was Jewish. She saw it again during World War II when she tried joining the National Guard but was initially turned away by a recruiting agency.
She met her first husband, Lloyd Katz, in California during her travels with the Guard. The two moved to the Las Vegas Valley in 1951, where they became owners of the first integrated movie theaters, at the Fremont, Huntridge and Palace.
Her work in social justice didn't stop there.
The two opened the Holocaust Resource Center in 1980 in their parents' memory. She was the honorary chairwoman.
Katz-Yarchever would continue to support Holocaust education in Nevada, including creating the Governor's Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust.
Doug Unger, the center's chairman, said Katz-Yarchever's work in starting Holocaust education in Nevada helped show the need to build a successful program worldwide to teach students and teachers lessons of the Holocaust.
She was also part of several religious, political and secular groups.
Myra Berkovitz, the center's education specialist, said that Katz-Yarchever was "pretty vibrant" in the community until she was about 90 years old.
Berkovitz noted that Katz-Yarchever had worked with former Clark County School District Superintendent Kenny Guinn to allow students to make up schoolwork during Jewish holidays.
"She changed so many lives and was always for the social good," Berkovitz said.
"It is not what you get back but what you give that counts," Katz-Yarchever said in a 2011 interview with the Review-Journal.
Later, an elementary school at 1800 Rock Springs Drive was named in honor of Edythe and Lloyd Katz.
He died in 1986. She married Judge Gilbert Yarchever when she was 75.
She is preceded in death by both husbands. She is survived by sons Jeffrey and Barry and brother Stanley Sperling.
Services for Katz-Yarchever were held Thursday at the King David Memorial Chapel. The family requested that any memorial donations be sent to the Sperling-Kronberg-Mack Las Vegas Holocaust Resource Center.
Contact Cassandra Taloma at ctaloma@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @CassandraTaloma.
