Legendary Nevadans

From adventurers and gunslingers to writers and thinkers, Nevada’s history was shaped by individuals with grit and drive. Each issue, we look at one of these notable heroes from the past. Whether born or raised, these aren’t just Nevadans: they’re Legendary Nevadans.

BY CORY MUNSON

At 34 years old, Jessie Beck (born Jessie Renfro) found herself recently divorced and nearly broke. Opportunities for a single mother in 1938 were few, so she was relieved to find work at a diner in Fort Worth.

A few months into the job, Beck’s sister Mabel and brother-in-law Raymond “Pappy” Smith entered the restaurant. The two had just arrived from Reno, where Pappy managed the Harolds Club casino.

After they finished their meal, Pappy went to the register to pay. To his surprise, his sister-in-law calculated his bill—including tax—without any pen or paper. He offered her a job on the spot, saying anyone that good with numbers belonged in the casino business.

Beck said she didn’t know much about gambling, but if Pappy was offering her a fresh start, she would take it.

A few weeks later, Beck was in Reno. Pappy started her on the roulette table, and her charm and wit soon made her a customer favorite. When a craps dealer got appendicitis, Beck filled in, becoming the first woman dealer in the state. Within a year, she was running the head craps table. In 1941, Beck was injured in a car accident. She wouldn’t be able to stand for months, and that meant no more dealing craps. As she recovered in the hospital, she asked her nurse for a deck of cards: she was going to teach herself to deal blackjack. Beck returned to work and was assigned cashier desk duty. She asked instead to be made a blackjack dealer. After demonstrating her newfound skill, the request was granted. Beck dealt blackjack throughout the 1940s. During this time, she shot up the casino ranks, earning a string of promotions— first to night shift floor manager, and then to supervisor. In 1951, she married an old friend of Pappy’s named Fred Beck. Fred owned his own poker, horseracing, and keno concessions at Harolds Club. Unfortunately, the marriage was short lived. Fred Beck died in 1954, and Jessie Beck took over management of her late husband’s casino games, running the Beck Corporation for the next 16 years.

In the early 1960s, Beck befriended a young kitchen worker named Richard Perry. Born and raised in Carlin, Perry moved to Reno for college and worked at Harolds Club to pay for tuition. The two became fast friends, Perry even referring to Beck as his work mother.

At the onset of the Vietnam War, Perry left Reno to join the Navy. Bright, gregarious, and a gifted aviator, Perry soon became lead pilot of Naval Squadron 164 (VA-164). Beck and Perry kept in close contact by mail. In 1965, Perry wrote her, saying his fellow servicemen were lonely and missing home. Worse, many weren’t receiving any letters or packages. Beck had already been sending Perry care packages, but after learning about the plight of the young men in Vietnam, she ramped up her operation. The first care package addressed to squadron VA-164 was a large box of ballpoint pens, a luxury for ship-bound servicemen. The boys were so delighted that she sent more packages, not only to VA-164, but to their fellow squadrons

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and to servicemen in other branches. Soon hundreds of men were rushing to mail call, delighted to find games, playing cards, books, magazines, and toiletries. Throughout the war, Beck spent her evenings at home penning letters to the men. By the late 1960s, she had 500 men on her mailing list and was receiving dozens of letters a day. Eventually, she moved to sending out a newsletter with a personalized postscript. When asked of her efforts, Beck humbly replied that the number one thing the boys in Vietnam needed was mail. In all, Beck befriended more than 2,000 servicemen.

In 1967, Perry renamed the squadron’s lead plane to honor his friend. The A-4E Skyhawk now bore the name Lady Jessie. On Aug. 31, 1967, tragedy struck. Shortly after taking off, Perry’s plane was hit by fire from the coast. He ejected and deployed his parachute, but he had suffered a fatal wound. Perry’s death was a terrible loss for all who knew him. Today, a bronze plaque dedicated to him can be found in Carlin at Richard C. Perry Memorial Park.

The squadron’s new lead plane was also named Lady Jessie, and each following plane would carry that name for the rest of the war. Beck’s work garnered local and national attention. In 1968, she received the Award of Merit from the Department of Defense— the highest medal for a civilian—and in 1969, Nevada Governor Paul Laxalt named her a distinguished Nevadan.