Five Nevadans get regents’ awards

Friday, May 12, 2000 | 9 a.m.

Alice Turner, who has dedicated much of her life to serving others, and Billy Vassiliadis, president of R&R Partners, were recognized this week at UNLV for their efforts in helping the Las Vegas community.

Turner and Vassiliadis are two of five prominent Nevadans being honored this week by the University and Community College System of Nevada's Board of Regents for their contributions to higher education.

The honor is given to individuals who assisted in cultural, social or scientific advancement in Nevada.

After graduating as a nurse from a training school in 1920, Turner married Clesse Turner and moved to Las Vegas in 1937. After her husband died in 1970, the 72-year-old focused her energy on volunteering to help her community.

She was a member of the Las Vegas Child Welfare Board and the Children's Service Guild. In the 1980s Turner became the first hospital volunteer to work in the AIDS Unit at UMC.

Vassiliadis has served as principal strategic planner for county and municipal political campaigns throughout the state. His community efforts include supporting the Clark County School District's bond campaigns, the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, Martin Luther King Committee, the American Diabetes Association, the Clark County Adoption Fair, Opportunity Village, Inner City Games and the Nathan Adelson Hospice.

The other honorees are Donald Cavin, a wildlife commissioner; James Eardley, a longtime Nevada educator; and Dorothy Patterson Elton, a longtime nurse and foster parent. The three were honored Thursday at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Cavin, who in 1964 was elected to the state Board of Wildlife Commissioners, contributed greatly to Nevada's wildlife.

In one of his efforts, a cost-efficient plan to capture Himalayan snow partridges in Nepal and release them on Mount Grant and the Ruby Mountains while avoiding U.S. Customs delays, Cavin saved the lives of thousands of birds that would have died in quarantine.

Eardley, who served 12 years on the Board of Regents beginning in 1986, dedicated nearly 50 years to advancing education in Nevada. In 1952 he began as a teacher and athletic director in the Washoe County School District. He was appointed first president in the Truckee County School District in 1979 and served until his retirement in 1986.

In 1962 Patterson Elton, along with her husband, Dr. John Patterson, opened the only medical facility in and around Wells. When her husband was killed two years later in a plane crash, Patterson Elton continued serving her community as a registered nurse.

She later married C.M. Butch Elton and the two cared for 54 foster sons over the past 35 years. She finds wheelchairs, crutches, canes and walkers for those in need.