Services Friday for longtime Las Vegas bandleader Garwood Van

Thursday, April 29, 1999 | 12:12 p.m.

Van died Sunday. He was 88.

Van gave comedian Redd Foxx his first job in Las Vegas and opened the city's first rock 'n' roll club.

He was established as a "society bandleader," playing mostly ballroom dances, when he took a job at the old El Rancho Vegas in June 1942. He remained to become one of Las Vegas' best-known musical figures.

As leader of the house band at The Last Frontier, he was the bandleader for Reagan when the future president headlined the hotel showroom in February 1954.

In 1964, Van signed Foxx as an opening act for Dinah Washington.

Van is survived by his wife, Joan, and a son, Gary, both of Las Vegas.

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