Hotel executive Jerry Exber dies

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

On July 4, 1947, Jerry Exber and his younger brother, Mel, set out from their native Brooklyn to California, stopping briefly in Las Vegas.

So they thought. By week's end the money they had earned in the Army Air Corps -- $3,000 -- and their brand new '47 Mercury were lost at the gambling tables.

That turned out to be good for Las Vegas as Mel became one of the town's top bookmakers and owner of the Las Vegas Club and Jerry spent 30 years as an executive at three hotel-casinos.

Jerry Exber, a Pearl Harbor survivor, died Saturday on the 55th anniversary of the bombing of the Hawaiian military base. He was 76.

"Jerry always said bad things happened to him on two days each year -- Sept. 12, the day he joined the Army, and Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day," said his nephew, Las Vegas Club Vice President Brady Exber. "He said in September that he was glad to get past one of those days."

Private services for the 49-year Las Vegas resident were held Monday at Nathan Adelson Hospice, where he died. Jerry was diagnosed with cancer on Dec. 2. On his deathbed Wednesday he told family members: "Well, fellas, I've got the Big C --, it's time to hit the dusty trail."

Born Dec. 19, 1919, in Brooklyn, Jerry, with Mel, who is recovering from recent surgery, grew up in a time when, as Mel put it, they didn't have a nickel to their names.

In a 1995 SUN interview, Mel credited his big brother with playing a major role in his remaining in Las Vegas.

On the advice of his brother, Mel went to work for Richard Dooley, who ran the sports book at the old Las Vegas Club after seeing Mel just standing around the area.

Jerry, who as late as three weeks ago was working a couple of days a week at the Las Vegas Club, also was an executive at the Las Vegas Hilton and Bally's.

"He had his own agenda and was a loner," Brady said of his brother's black-sheep-of-the-family reputation. "But my uncle also had a terrific sense of humor, and gave good advice, even though he was not good at taking good advice."

In the 1980s, Jerry was convicted of tax evasion and spent a brief time in prison. Brady said his uncle came out with a different perspective on life that included less emphasis on material things.

In addition to his brother, Jerry is survived by a son, Scott Exber, and another brother, Marty Exber, both of Las Vegas.

DONATIONS: In Jerry Exber's memory to Nathan Adelson Hospice.