Irene Bustamante Adams believes in the reinvention of oneself as the path to the future. And since coming to Nevada in 1990 she has proven that anything is possible.
She was born and raised in rural California where she worked the fields alongside her family members growing up. Her mother is a native of New Mexico, with family that dates back six generations; her father was born in Mexico.
Person
Jackie Boiman (née Brooks) was born July 21, 1946 in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Levittown, New York. Her religious connection began in the Levittown Jewish Center Sunday School and under the close relationship she had with her grandmother, who kept kosher and inspired her to do so.
Person
Carol-Ann Swatling was raised in Buffalo, New York, in what she subtly calls a “non-traditional upbringing.” Her primary caregivers during her early years were her maternal grandmother, who she fondly recalls and a great uncle and aunt who operated a hearse business. Her mother was in and out of her life, but it was her mother’s sister who mentored her while working at a retail store during high school.
Person
Lawrence Canarelli was born in Roseburg, Oregon shortly after World War II. His family had no money and lived in a tent on the Umpqua River, foraging and living day-to-day. After their tent and everything they owned burned down, Canarelli’s family moved to various logging camps through Oregon and California. His father quit his job and unexpectedly left the family, leaving the 21-year old mother no choice but to put Canarelli and his three siblings in a Pentecostal orphanage.
Person
In 1990, when Tina's parents opened the Fortune Inn restaurant, seven-year-old Tina began working alongside them; they closed the restaurant in 2005. After the restaurant closed, Tina's mother, So Lin Kwan, became a dealer and her father, David Kwan, became a cook at Lily Langtry restaurant in the Golden Nugget. So Lin is the third youngest of ten children born in Quiping to a different Kwan family. So Lin's oldest sister and her brother were the first of the family to emigrate; the brother did so at twelve years of age.
Person
Jackie Boiman (née Brooks) was born July 21, 1946 in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Levittown, New York. Her religious connection began in the Levittown Jewish Center Sunday School and under the close relationship she had with her grandmother, who kept kosher and inspired her to do so.
Person
