Max Corsun, longtime Las Vegas deli owner, dies

Friday, Sept. 6, 2002 | 5:08 a.m.

Longtime Las Vegas deli owner Max Corsun, whose acerbic facade may have cost him a customer or two, but whose mouth-watering pastrami and tender brisket sandwiches won over thousands of regulars, died today at the University Medical Center. He was 77.

Corsun, who for 30 years operated Max Cs Deli at 221 Bridger Avenue in the shadow of the Clark County Courthouse and at three other locations, died of complications stemming from an auto accident seven weeks ago.

Graveside services for the Las Vegas resident of 39 years will be noon Monday at King David Memorial Chapel, 2697 Eldorado Lane.

The first Las Vegas Max Cs opened in 1968 on Casino Center Boulevard, then moved to Bridger, then to 603 Las Vegas Blvd. So., and more recently to 1006 E. Charleston Blvd. He was days shy of opening the latest Max Cs at 510 Las Vegas Boulevard So., when he was hit by a car on July 21.

The original Max Cs opened just off the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in the 1950s.

Corsun tried to retire in the late 1990s, but couldnt.

"He told me that after sitting around for a year, he just had to go back to running a deli, said friend and landlord Basil Kosa. "He loved to work. His pastrami sandwich was my favorite. And his brisket was just so soft and so mellow.

While Corsuns sandwiches could be described as soft and mellow, the same could not be said for Corsun. On a particularly bad day, he would chew out a customer for ordering just a Pepsi. And he did not care what anyone thought of him. But that, friends and family said, was part of his charm.

"The real Max Corsun was a pussycat while the public Max Corsun was a curmudgeon, said Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, a customer of Max Cs since he was a law student in Philadelphia. "Max cared not only about his customers but also would ask about how members of their families were doing and he never compromised on the quality of his food.

For decades, Corsun prepared for Goodman his favorite deli sandwich, corned beef with cole slaw and Russian dressing on rye.

Frances "Fran Corsun said her husband loved being a character.

"What he did worked because he had such a wonderful clientele of attorneys, judges and politicians, she said. "My husband loved politics, but when he finally decided to run for office, it was more of a joke and it didnt last very long.

Max Corsun threw his hat in the ring for Assembly District 22 in 1994, losing in the primary to fellow Democrat and incumbent Gene Segerblom.

Born July 2, 1925, in Philadelphia, Corsun was a World War II Army veteran who came to Las Vegas in 1963. At his eateries, he honored his best customers in various ways, including recording their names on the wall next to his counter at one establishment and naming sandwiches after them at another.

Throughout his career, Corsuns goal was to provide quality, tasty food at reasonable prices. He served a five-ounce pastrami sandwich on a poppy-seed Kaiser roll for $5.25. He chose a fatty, salty pastrami from Yenems of Los Angeles, for a more true-to-Philadelphia flavor.

He served his meaty sandwiches with sides of spicy brown mustard, sour pickles and a scoop of potato salad garnished with red bell peppers.

Corsun was a member of the Jewish War Veterans of Las Vegas, Jewish War Veterans of Philadelphia and the American Legion.

In addition to his wife, Corsun is survived by a son, Mike Corsun of Las Vegas; and a daughter, Ethel Hoffman of Philadelphia.