E. Parry Thomas
The banker behind the expansion
Casino lending, corporate ownership and university land connect Thomas’s banking career to the growth of the Strip and the city around it.
Learning to lend to casinos
Thomas joined the Bank of Las Vegas in 1954. UNLV dates his first casino loan to the following year: $750,000 for a Sahara expansion. Other lenders were wary of gaming risk and organized-crime associations. His willingness to evaluate casino businesses opened an important source of capital. [1]
Changing the rules of ownership
He became bank president in 1961 and advocated the corporate gaming legislation of 1967 and 1969. His financing history also included facilitating Teamsters pension loans. These different sources of money belong in the same account of how resorts expanded. [1]
A bank partnership becomes a campus
Thomas and Jerry Mack helped secure land for UNLV’s expansion. Their support extended to the arena that opened in 1983 and to later legal education facilities. The university’s remembrance makes the campus, as well as the casinos, a central part of Thomas’s legacy. [2]
Follow the financing
The Sun’s 2016 obituary traces his relationship with Steve Wynn and the growth of the banking business. Read it alongside UNLV’s institutional account: one emphasizes the businessman’s network, while the other records what his support made possible on campus. [3] [2]
Key dates
People in the same story
Jerry Mack
Banking partner and fellow supporter of UNLV’s expansion. [2]
Read the profileSteve Wynn
The Sun’s obituary explores Thomas’s backing of Wynn. [3]
Read the profileLarry Ruvo
Follow the related story in Larry Ruvo’s profile. [3]
Read the profileIn the archive
9 matching entries in the saved collection.
Parry Thomas, Part 1
Publisher page and article metadata checked · Oct 3, 2026
Parry Thomas, Part 2
Publisher page and article metadata checked · Oct 3, 2026
E. Parry Thomas, business icon who helped shape Las Vegas, dies at 95
Subscription or access restrictions may apply. Access check: Oct 4, 2026. Search for this source (search results)
Howard Cannon cuts ribbon at an opening with E. Parry Thomas, W. W. Galloway, and two unidentified men: photographic print
Photograph · Howard Cannon Photograph Collection. Catalog date: Circa 1950–1983.
E. Parry Thomas and Howard Cannon cut ribbon at a ceremony: photographic print
Photograph · Howard Cannon Photograph Collection. Catalog date: Circa 1950–1983.
Photograph of E. Parry Thomas and Kirk Douglas, Las Vegas, Nevada, December 4, 1977
Photograph · North Las Vegas Library Photograph Collection on North Las Vegas, Nevada. Catalog date: December 4, 1977.
Go deeper into the record.
Sources for this profile and starting points for further research. Access notes mark links we could not open directly during the October 3–4, 2026 checks. Historical accounts describe their own period; they do not necessarily describe current operations.
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E. Parry Thomas
UNLV pages differ on the year of the Valley Bank merger; that date is not used here.
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- 3
Las Vegas business icon E. Parry Thomas dies at 95
Subscription or access restrictions may apply. Access check: Oct 4, 2026. Search for this source (search results)