Longtime Las Vegas retailer Mushkin dies at 83
May Mushkin, who operated Las Vegas shoe and dress stores with her husband, died Monday after a short illness in Coronado, Calif., where she was receiving medical treatment. She was 83.
Mushkin was born in Philadelphia to Samuel and Minnie Barsky. She met her late husband, Larry Mushkin, on a blind date in Los Angeles, and they moved to Las Vegas as newlyweds in 1951.
The couple opened Larry’s Shoes on Fremont Street in 1952 and the Market Town Fashions dress store on Oakey and Las Vegas boulevards. They later established Larry’s Shoe Horn on Las Vegas Boulevard and Convention Center Drive.
The family developed and owned a 36-unit apartment complex called Sharonda Arms in the mid-1970s. Steve Wynn later acquired the apartment site, which Treasure Island now occupies. The Mushkins operated a Super 8 motel on Boulder Highway where a casino now stands.
The Mushkins worked together as partners in the businesses.
"They were the perfect partners in love and business," daughter Rhonda Mushkin said. "Mom was classy, beautiful, energetic, loving, generous and, perhaps most of all, fun-loving."
She was active in Temple Beth Shalom, the UNLV Alumni Association, Las Vegas Country Club Ladies Golf Association and B’nai B’rith.
She is survived by two daughters, Sharon Mushkin of Denver and Rhonda Mushkin of Las Vegas; two sons, Michael Mushkin and Mark Mushkin, both of Las Vegas; and seven grandchildren.
Services will be at 2 p.m. today at Palm Mortuary, 7600 S. Eastern Ave. Donations may be made to the May B. Mushkin Memorial Fund at Temple Beth Shalom.
