Lawrence Theodore Krantz

It is with great sadness that our family announces the passing of Lawrence Theodore “Papa” Krantz on Friday, July 21, 2017. Lawrence was born July 27, 1927 in Omaha, Nebraska to John & Martha Kwasniewski. The seventh of eight children. He was six days away from his 90th birthday when he passed. Lawrence moved his wife & eight month old baby, Linda, from Omaha to Las Vegas in August, 1951. He worked at the Flamingo Hotel from 1951-1969 as Bell Captain. He opened the then International Hotel, which became The Las Vegas Hilton, in 1969, as Superintendent of Services. Larry then opened the Union Plaza in 1971 as Race & Sports Book Assistant Manager & went on to open the Excalibur Hotel in 1990 as Director of Race and Sports, where he retired years later. The most important of his achievements were not work related but life related. He & Virginia had a robust life, working hard, but always having a good time. They had lots of family parties, celebrating the holidays, birthdays, any occasion for a party. He was generous beyond compare, which all of his children, grandchildren & great-grandchildren well know. There was always anything from a $5 bill for the little ones & $50-$100 as they grew. “Papa” always had a little cash to pass out to the children at all the family parties. There were fun filled days at the lake with his children, teaching them & all their friends to water ski off his boat, even though he never learned how to swim. He was well known for his BBQ rib parties, where he served his secret BBQ sauce with ribs & all the trimmings. There was always fun & laughter around him. The children always knew Papa was in the audience at their school functions or sports games, when they heard his loud, distinct whistle. His love for Jesus was always apparent in everything he did & said. He tirelessly & lovingly nursed his wife for eight years before she passed. He never complained. He raised his family with the saying “If you don’t have something good to say about someone, don’t say anything at all.” He is preceded in death by his wife of 52 years, Virginia Mae “Jeannie”. Larry is survived by his four children, Linda Pierro-Gresser (Jeff), Larry Krantz Jr, Renee Vozzola (Gary) & Shannon Krantz; grandchildren, Aaron Pierro (Christel), Rachel Nish (Ty), Gary Michael Vozzola (Jamie), Regina Pernyak (Patrick), Marquel Bressler (Nate), Shawna Cory (Todd), & Brandi Krantz; 16 great-grandchildren & numerous nieces & nephews. Visitation is at 1pm on August 9, 2017, with funeral services following at 2pm at Palm Downtown Mortuary & Cemetery, 1325 North Main Street, Las Vegas, NV 89101. The honesty, integrity and warmth of our “PaPa” will go on forever in all our hearts. His legacy of being a beautiful human being will live on forever