Sin City neon sign became an icon
The woman who designed the neon sign that has welcomed countless visitors to “fabulous Las Vegas” since 1959 has died.
Betty Willis, credited with designing the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign, died in her Overton, Nevada, home on April 19.
She was “a wonderful woman and a good mom,” her daughter Marjorie Holland said by phone.
Holland said her 91-yearold mother was proud of her design for the iconic sign, but she never grew fond of how “fabulous” appeared, the single-word adjective not quite as flowing a script as she had envisioned.
“She … is probably sitting up in heaven saying, ‘That’s right,’ ”Holland said, laughing. “It looked odd.”
The artist’s often-copied sign sits in a median in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard south of the Strip.
She said her mother put quite a bit of thought into the sign’s design, arranging the word “Welcome” inside seven silver dollars, both a lucky number and winning currency of choice at the time for the destination.
Holland said her mother wanted the entire sign to be festive and happy, adding what she described as a blinking Disney star atop.
The last time Willis visited her creation was May 20, 2013, for her 90th birthday, when she marvelled at the parking lot that had been expanded so more people could park for a photo opportunity.
“They ’ve done all that out here just for that little sign,” Holland said she remarked.
Holland says her mother called it “the little sign that could,” because she was amazed by its popularity.
In 2009, the sign was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Willis was born in 1923 in Overton, Nevada., and her family moved to Las Vegas a short time later. She worked as a commercial artist in Los Angeles before returning to Las Vegas.