Elaine Wynn brought an uncommon light to the Las Vegas Strip, a softer hue amid the gaud and gild. Lithe and elegant, she was stronger than she looked.

Her recent death at 82 is bringing a deserved outpouring of affection and remembrance from her many admirers and friends. Those who knew her best praise her philanthropy, strength of character and class. She was a member of Vegas royalty, part of a historic and star-crossed casino partnership, but so much more than that.

Those who watched Steve and Elaine Wynn several decades ago might not have imagined one without the other. Steve Wynn was heralded in endless profiles as the preeminent Vegas visionary, the gleaming face of the new and improved Gaming Inc. as it — once again — attempted to reinvent itself. But the star of the show had someone holding his act together.

Charming Elaine offered an ideal complement to the casino family portrait that included two lovely daughters. The Wynns transitioned from the talk of downtown at the Golden Nugget to the Strip’s success story with the 1989 opening of The Mirage. Her many contributions to the look and feel of the game-changing resort went largely unheralded. But as she told one interviewer, “I was always Steve’s confidant and his partner. We talked business and whatever he was doing.”

Over the next two decades, she co-founded Wynn Resorts as it dazzled the Strip with four more casino-resorts. She continued to play an important role as the company gained an international flair, but added another dimension that had the effect of humanizing it.

After operating inside her husband’s long and darkening shadow, she appeared to blossom outside it. She was celebrated for her artistic taste, sense of fashion and personal style, but she was more than that.

She embraced the nationwide nonprofit Communities in Schools organization that helps underserved students stay in school while building support structure to help them excel. She not only gave generously, but was an active participant in the program as the founder and “heart and soul” of the Nevada branch of the program. A memorial tribute notes she “poured herself into the work — rolling up her sleeves and standing shoulder to shoulder with staff, students, and leaders alike. She talked the talk and walked the walk, serving as a relentless advocate, a generous philanthropist, and an unwavering champion for Nevada’s students overcoming the odds.”

As if making up for lost time, she contributed to projects that continue to transform Las Vegas culture in new ways. From The Smith Center for the Performing Arts to the Nevada Ballet Theatre and support of the land artist Michael Heizer, she was there.

From her position on the board of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, she led the effort to bring an affiliated, first-class art museum to Las Vegas. Projected to open in 2028, it’s a $200 million addition to the community that will send a message to the world: We are more than we appear.

With all that, I believe Elaine Wynn’s greatest contribution to Las Vegas and the gaming industry was the way she led Wynn Resorts in the wake of her ex-husband’s 2018 sexual misconduct scandal. Steve Wynn has always denied wrongdoing, but he rushed to remove himself from the company, sold his stock, and relinquished his gaming license. John Dillinger didn’t make tracks that fast.

Steve Wynn paid millions in fines to casino regulators, and the company paid millions more for failing to uphold its corporate responsibilities. 

Under Elaine Wynn’s leadership, strong women were named to the company’s board of directors in an industry with an almost bullet-proof glass ceiling. She righted the ship and helped save it.

As she told writer Pat Hickey in his book Here and Hereafter: Nevada Voices on Life and the Great Beyond, “My mission is to resurrect the integrity of this extraordinary company, which is really the capstone of my professional career.” She reminded the author that it was “embarrassing, and uncivilized in my opinion” that more than half of the nation’s corporate boards remained without a single woman.

She added, “I proudly declare that I am a feminist. I’m a strong advocate for the advancement of women who are woefully undervalued and underappreciated.”

Thanks to Elaine Wynn, the Las Vegas scene became a little less chauvinistic, a little more civilized and more than it appeared. She was stronger than she looked.

John L. Smith is an author and longtime columnist. He was born in Henderson and his family’s Nevada roots go back to 1881. His stories have appeared in New Lines, Time, Readers Digest, Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, Reuters and Desert Companion, among others.