Irwin Allen Molasky

Not long after, he arrived in the desert town known as Las Vegas, where he saw “adventure and opportunity,” he said in an interview with UNLV TV. He quickly became one of the founding fathers of the world-renowned city. Locals can thank Molasky for Las Vegas’ first hospital, master-planned community, enclosed mall, golf course housing development and the land where UNLV sits. Molasky was surrounded by his family Saturday when he died from natural causes. He was 93. Steven Molasky described his father as a proud and humble giver, a provider to his family and employees, all of whom he treated equally. He remembers a man who appreciated the accolades, but didn’t relish in them. “He was a wonderful man, we are blessed to have had him for so long,” Steven Molasky said. “He was not only a tremendous leader in the community, he was an incredible father and grandfather and great grandfather.

Irwin Molasky adored the United States and he would revel in the fact that he was born on George Washington’s birthday and had the opportunity to meet multiple presidents, his son said. He would probably be amused that he died on Independence Day. The elder Molasky was born Feb. 22, 1927, in St. Louis. As a child, he and his family relocated to Dayton, Ohio, where he picked up a job helping his brother-in-law in a construction business. He attended the Ohio State University and served in the military after World War II. Early in his career he helped build military housing in Florida. At 18, he discovered the value of earning for himself and convinced his father to loan him money to buy the five-unit housing complex in California. A few years later, he visited Las Vegas for the first time, ultimately settling here in 1951. Immediately, he constructed the Pyramids Motel, an 18-unit complex on the Strip. “The first pyramid in Las Vegas, not the Luxor,” he said in a television interview. He worked building room-and-garage additions at homes until he met Merv Adelson, whom he went into business with and founded the Paradise Development Company. When they were looking to build office spaces for medical professionals, the partners instead realized there was a need for a hospital in Las Vegas. Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center blossomed from there. Molasky was only 30 when the facility — “his biggest accomplishment” he was “most proud of” — opened its doors, bringing 58 beds and seven doctors to the valley. It took more “guts than brains,” he said in a previous interview. The developers also built the Boulevard Mall, Paradise Palms master-class community, the medical facilities surrounding Sunrise Hospital, the first golf community and Bank of America Plaza, the first high-rise building in downtown Las Vegas, according to a biography on a UNLV website. They built the Nathan Adelson Hospice, at the time only the third such facility in the country. They also donated 45 acres where UNLV sits. He was the founding chairman of the UNLV Foundation, the fundraising arm of the university. He also developed several government buildings across the country. At 75, Molasky said in the UNLV interview that he didn’t want to retire. “I want to do what I like to do — design interesting projects,” he said. So instead he built the Park Towers at Hughes Center, a pair of 20-story buildings that house luxury condominiums. The

development business wasn’t his lone interest. Molasky also had an interest in Hollywood, as he and his partners created Lorimar Entertainment, the producers of popular television series such as “Dallas,” “The Waltons,” “Knots Landing” and “Full House.” Lorimar also produced films, including Oscar-winners “Being There” and “An Officer and A Gentleman.” Molasky was passionate about racehorses. One of his thoroughbreds, Kona Gold, won the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. “He was quite the guy,” Steven Molasky said about his father. Hours after his death, Steven Molasky could picture being a boy cruising down the Strip with his father by his side in his 1957 Thunderbird with its top down. His father “knew everybody, and everybody knew him.” “He was fair to everybody, helped everybody and he took his time, whether you were a maid or a frontline worker. He was wonderful to people,” Steven Molasky said. Newer generations may be familiar with him from the Las Vegas middle school that bears his name. His name will be carried on by his children, who now run the family firm, the Molasky Group of Companies. “We couldn’t be more proud of his legacy,” Steven Molasky said. “We, throughout our whole lives, are trying to emanate what he taught us in our businesses and our lives, and we’re very proud to have him as our mentor, and then carry on what he did.” He is survived by children Beth Molasky-Cornell, Steven Molasky, Andrew Molasky and Alan Molasky; stepchildren Michael Frey, Gary Frey, Robert Frey and Daryl Irwin; 13 grandchildren, seven great grandchildren, loving companion Cheryl Irwin and loving wife Susan Molasky.

(This obituary was originally published on 7/5/2020 by the Las Vegas Sun and permission was granted to publish it on this website)