From one businesswoman to another, legacy of love, counsel

Elaine Wynn was sharing memories of Claudine Williams, when a few tears slipped down her cheek.

"I would see her in all different scenarios," Elaine said. "I couldn't find one itsy bitsy thing wrong with her. She was pure love." Tears fell, and quickly were wiped away.

Claudine Williams, who died May 13 at age 88, was "the most trusted female mentor in my life," Elaine said.

Claudine showed Elaine she could raise her two daughters in Las Vegas and also be a businesswoman in a man's industry.

"She really was my role model. She had done everything before me," Elaine said. "She and I were the only ones who kind of came in by invitation of our husbands, and then carved out a place for ourselves in the companies."

Despite a 21-year age difference, their lives moved on parallel tracks.

Claudine and Shelby Williams moved to Las Vegas in 1963 and bought the Silver Slipper; Steve and Elaine Wynn moved here in 1967 and invested in the New Frontier.

Claudine had their only child, Michael; Elaine had daughter Kevyn and later Gillian.

"They were really one of the first couples we met," Elaine said. "Claudine immediately adopted me."

Early on, her relationship with Elaine was more maternal than business. After Elaine became more involved with the work, starting with the Golden Nugget, Claudine's mentorship switched from family values and civic values to business values.

Over the years, the Williamses built the Holiday Casino, opening the mom and pop gambling hall in 1973, offering the first buffet on the Strip.

Meanwhile, the Wynns went global. First they bought the Golden Nugget, then built The Mirage, Bellagio, Treasure Island, Wynn Las Vegas and Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, and the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City and Wynn Macau.

When Shelby Williams died in 1977, his wife became boss of the casino business. She sold the casino to what is now Harrah's Entertainment, but remained chair of the board.

Claudine bridged two Las Vegas eras, from individual to corporate ownership -- all with a ninth-grade education. At 16, she bluffed her way into dealing dice at a club in Louisiana. She knew gambling long before she married a gambler.

"She wasn't embarrassed, and she wasn't ashamed, but she felt compromised by not being formally educated," Elaine said. "I was lucky. I got to go to college (Pennsylvania and George Washington). ... She always had a longing where she wished she'd had that one last piece. Of course, later on, she wore it like a badge of honor, that despite the lack of formal education, how accomplished she became, how everyone accepted her."

Elaine wasn't the only Wynn to seek Claudine's advice.

"I remember Steve calling her so often to ask her advice about things when he was getting started. He never felt the least bit conflicted about reaching out to a woman to ask a question of a man's world," Elaine said in her office at Wynn Las Vegas.

Elaine loved that Claudine "wore her diamonds with aplomb." She sported a huge emerald on one hand and a gigantic diamond on the other. When she went out, she added bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

"It was such a Texas thing. It had nothing to do with her being ostentatious or over the top. It was part of her persona. She worked hard for it, and she liked her pretty things," Elaine said. "She loaded herself up and on her it always looked great. And she never apologized for it. She never felt the need to excuse what she did because she was so generous in so many ways."

Elaine's earlier tears reminded her of another tear. She and Claudine were at a meeting of the UNLV Foundation when they learned the MGM, which bought The Mirage in 2000, was laying off people, despite telling the Wynns there would be no major personnel changes.

"This was the first wave of firings, and they were letting people go who had worked for us for 25 years, and I was just devastated," said Elaine, who had opposed the sale.

Claudine said, "Elaine, you can't feel badly for those people. You and Steve created so many jobs. Don't get hung up on this part."

Claudine's counsel was "a mature, seasoned, experienced, not tough, but wise, observation," Elaine said. "And she straightened me right out."

Claudine Williams offered pure love and wise counsel. That's a legacy.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.