Pioneer Las Vegan Garehime dies

Monday, March 22, 2004 | 8:54 a.m.

As an infant Jacob "Jake" Garehime came to Las Vegas with his parents in 1924 when the family was on the way to California.

He stayed for 80 years.

The family bought a jewelry store in downtown Las Vegas, and it wasn't long after that Jacob Garehime Sr., began selling pianos from his Fremont Street store.

The family's first home was built of piano crates just off Fremont Street, and the Garehime name became synonymous with music in Southern Nevada.

Jacob Garehime, who spent virtually his entire 80 years in Las Vegas, died Friday at Nathan Adelson Hospice West. He was born March 21, 1923, in Delta, Colo.

An accomplished professional musician, Garehime also had a career as an engineer and took up golf later in life.

"He was gentle and generous. I mean generous in caring for other people," Francine Summers, principal of Edith Garehime Elementary School, said.

A 1941 graduate of Las Vegas High School, Garehime married his high school sweetheart, Betty Sleeper of Boulder City. They were married for 62 years.

Jacob and Betty Garehime spent so much time at the school that the children sometimes thought it was named after him, rather than his mother, Edith Garehime, Summers said. His mother lived until she was 90, learning to swim at 65, Summers said.

"I think that's what inspired Jacob," she said. "He thought if his mother could learn to swim, he could keep learning."

Children at the school sent get-well cards to Jacob Garehime while he was hospitalized, Summers said.

"He was so touched about what those kids wrote that he started to cry," Summers said.

Serving in World War II, Garehime entertained troops as a member of special services.

As a professional musician in the 1940s and 1950s, Garehime played jazz in Los Angeles with many of the era's greatest players, including Al Donahue, Glen Grey and Alvino Rey.

He played trumpet at the 1952 Academy Awards, and later performed on the Las Vegas Strip behind Harry Belafonte, Lena Horn and others. Garehime knew Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Stan Kenton, Chet Baker and other stars.

Garehime studied jazz piano at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, David Loeb, university director of jazz, said.

"He was inspirational to all our students," Loeb said.

For his jazz piano keyboard course, Garehime wrote reports on Bill Evans and Russ Freeman, both jazz pianists, Loeb said.

"Every time he spoke about those musicians, he would light up, he would smile and his eyes would twinkle," Loeb said.

Garehime shared the fact that he roomed in Hollywood with Bob Graettinger, the arranger who wrote "City of Glass," a daring piece of jazz, for Stan Kenton, Loeb said.

Garehime also worked for EG&G, a major Nevada Test Site contractor, from 1956 through 1960. He operated his own design and machine shop, Garehime Research and Development, from 1961 until 1976.

He took up golf in the 1970s and won the Nevada Senior Open in 1981.

He is survived by his wife, Betty; daughter, Sannene Garehime of Las Vegas; and son, Kurt Garehime of Las Vegas.

Visitation will be from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday and 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Wednesday at Palm Mortuary, 1325 N. Main St.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Palm Mortuary downtown.

Graveside services at Woodlawn Cemetery are private.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the UNLV Foundation, College of Fine Arts, Department of Music, 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy., Las Vegas, NV, 89154-5025; Attn: Jake Garehime Memorial Scholarship Fund.