Mother of hotel mogul Wynn dies

Tuesday, June 3, 2003 | 9:05 a.m.

Zelma Wynn, mother of hotel developer Steve Wynn, died Sunday in Las Vegas. She was 86.

Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Temple Beth Sholom, 10700 Haven- wood Lane at Town Center Drive in Summerlin. Burial will be private. Palm Mortuary is handling the arrangements.

Wynn, born Aug. 24, 1916, in Sanford, Maine, married Michael Wynn six months after meeting him in Revere, Mass.

In a 1988 interview with Senior Life magazine, she recalled that she saw Michael Wynn on the way home from work as he was going to his job.

"Then one night my girlfriend introduced us and Mike ended up walking me home," Zelma Wynn said. "We were married six months later."

The Wynns lived the American dream, family members said, building a bingo business and a family.

Wynn was known for her interior decorating skills. Without formal training, she decorated the homes of friends, and two houses she decorated had been featured in House Beautiful by 1950.

After the death of her husband at 46, Wynn traveled and devoted time to her family and numerous charities.

During the late 1970s and '80s, she made regular appearances in commercials for the Golden Nugget, operated by Steve Wynn, where hotel employees considered her to be the matriarch.

"My mother was a fun-loving, energetic woman who embraced life," Steve Wynn said. "She had a wonderful 86 years during which she was running the show 99.9 percent of the time."

The success of her two sons, Steve and Kenny, was a source of great pride, but nothing gave Wynn more pleasure than her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, family members said.

Zelma Wynn was known to hold court in the coffee shops and buffets in her sons' hotels.

Legend has it that the recipe for the bread pudding served in the hotels built by her sons came from her kitchen.

The family requests that donations be made in Zelma Wynn's name to the donor's favorite charity.

Survivors include her two sons, Steve and Kenny, and their spouses, Elaine and Dale, all of Las Vegas.