Wengert, singer, activist, dies at 78

Wednesday, July 5, 2006 | 7:18 a.m.

Whether she sang at charity events, hosted foreign exchange students or provided bedside comfort to terminally ill AIDS patients, Ree Nally Wengert left an indelible impression.

"She just reveled in helping people and charities," longtime attorney and friend Ralph Denton said.

"She was a kind and gentle soul with a loving and giving heart."

Wengert, member of a pioneering banking family whose civic deeds touched six decades, died Sunday in Las Vegas at age 78.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 54 years will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic Church, where Wengert, a Julliard-trained vocalist, was the choir's longtime soloist.

Wengert was the widow of Las Vegas banker and civic leader Ward Wengert, who preceded her in death in 1993, and the daughter-in-law of Las Vegas banking and utility executive Cyril Wengert, who started as a banker in 1911 in Las Vegas and died in 1965.

Born Dec. 14, 1927, in Charleston, W. Va., Ree Wengert was the youngest of 12 children. She attended Marymount University in Terrytown, N.Y., and was awarded a full scholarship to the Julliard School of Music.

She moved to Las Vegas in 1952 to be close to family members. She became a member of the Las Vegas Service League (now called the Junior League of Las Vegas) and also did charity work for the Catholic Church.

A world traveler and an education advocate, she sponsored exchange students in the 1980s and often sang at charity events - most notably with the Ray Sinatra Orchestra at Las Vegas Christmas pageants in the 1960s.

In the 1990s, she became an advocate for AIDS victims' rights, often visiting and talking with the most critically ill patients in the University Medical Center AIDS ward.

Wengert is survived by two daughters, Rhetta Storebo of Las Vegas and Rene McCown of Reno; a son, Ward Wengert Jr., of Las Vegas; two sisters, Tee Harrington of Pittsburgh and Rhetta Sweeney of Las Vegas; and four grandchildren.

Another son, Cyril Wengert, preceded her in death in 1997.