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It just pulled it up again, but here it is:
September 19, 2000
Scherry Harrah, former wife of late gaming magnate, dies
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Scherry Teague Harrah, a former Hollywood actress and dancer who was married for 18 years to late gaming magnate William F. Harrah, has died after a battle with breast cancer. She was 75.
Harrah died in her sleep on Sunday, said Gary Nelson, a lawyer who knew Harrah for more than 20 years and represents her son, Tony Harrah.
She was born May 26, 1925, in Chattanooga, Tenn., and worked in Hollywood before coming to Reno to work at Harolds Club in the mid-1940s.
"In those days, there were only two places to stay the Riverside Hotel and the El Cortez," she was quoted as saying in the Reno Gazette-Journal in 1992. "And since it was war time, you could only stay for three days at a time. I had to re-register for my room every three days."
Harry Spencer, who had been working with her on an autobiography the last five years, said she later lived at the Mapes, paying $24 a week for her apartment.
She met Bill Harrah, who operated casinos in Reno and later at Lake Tahoe, and they married in 1948.
"Scherry was instrumental in working closely with Harrah's interior designer in the late 1950s and the 1960s," said Holmes Hendricksen, retired executive vice president of entertainment for Harrahs. "She picked out colors, dishes, furnishings and decorating elements. Throughout her life, she remained interested in Harrah's success and she always was interested in the community."
Debbie Squailia, day-shift manager of Harrahs Reno Steak House, said until recently Scherry Harrah often dined there.
"She was the most gracious grand dame in our industry," she said. "She had a lot of class and persevered through hard times with dignity."
During her marriage, she and her husband developed close relationships with many of the headliners booked into Harrahs showrooms. They were active members of the Horseless Carriage Club of Nevada, drove antique cars on long excursions and often hosted banquets and events for Horseless Carriage members from around the country.
After her divorce in 1969, she didn't remarry. She had several business ventures, including a small casino, a cosmetics company and a bar-juice distribution business.
"She always was interested in gaming and in the city of Reno," her son, Tony Harrah, said Monday. "She was interested in how Reno was doing and the direction it was going."
Her biography is almost finished, Spencer said. But a publication date has not be set.
"I've never met a nicer human being," he said. "She treated everybody, from Bill Cosby to the elevator operator, exactly the same. She was modest and very private. But she also had a good sense of humor and could make fun of herself."
Harrah is survived by sons John and Tony, both of Reno, and five grandchildren. Services are private.
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