She came to Las Vegas with her husband, Roger Peltyn, in the early 1980s. He was the president of Martin & Peltyn and the structural engineer who designed the steel skeletons supporting the Golden Nugget, The Venetian, The Mirage, Bellagio and other resorts. He died of heart failure in 2004 at age 60.
At that time, the Peltyns were involved in dozens of Las Vegas philanthropic and charitable projects. The Las Vegas Sun reported the couple had raised more than $4 million to aid people and causes in Southern Nevada. “When we came to the city, the city immediately embraced us,” Sandy Peltyn told the newspaper.
After her husband’s death, Sandy Peltyn continued to return the embrace of her new hometown. The publication Distinguished Women & Men in Nevada has credited her with helping raise more than $10 million for charitable or cultural activities in Southern Nevada. She spent several years as principal in charge of marketing and community relations for DeSimone Consulting Engineers.
Former President George W. Bush appointed her to an advisory committee of the arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and President Obama named her as one of 24 commissioners to perform feasibility studies in order to create the first-ever museum of the American Latino under the Smithsonian Institution.
She has been involved as a member, developer or supporter of organizations that include: the Latin Chamber of Commerce; the Greater Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce; Clark County Pro Bono Project; the Arthritis Foundation; College of Southern Nevada; American Heart Association; Kidney Foundation; Nevada Association for the Handicapped; the Clark County Medical Society; The Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican Board of Directors; and the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. Her son, R.J. Peltyn, often accompanied her to functions.
Valera said he believes the death of Peltyn’s husband played a role in her keen interest in medical issues in Southern Nevada. “She has very much wanted the UNLV School of Medicine to succeed,” he said.
In 2014 Gov. Brian Sandoval appointed Peltyn to the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners, which deals with the licensing of doctors. A public member (not a physician), she took her position very seriously, according to Dr. Rachakonda D. Prabhu, president of the board.
“She only wanted well qualified doctors to be licensed,” said Prabhu, who attended a board meeting with Peltyn in Reno the day before she died. He and his daughter also had dinner with her later that evening. He added that Peltyn’s friendships with doctors over the years had deepened her interest in medicine.
Sandy also had been on the investigative committee of the medical board. “She was very interested in public safety and so kind and generous,“ Prabhu said.
In 2015 the Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican Board of Directors named Peltyn its new board chair. She became the first Latina to hold the position with the St. Rose Dominican hospitals. Eugene Bassett, senior vice president of operations for Dignity Health Nevada said Peltyn had “greatly contributed to our healing ministry in Southern Nevada...she worked hard to ensure our ability to provide this much needed care for our patients, regardless of their ability to pay.”
Peltyn helped local doctors through the Clark County Medical Society. “She was instrumental in the success of many galas and other programs,” said Dr. Jeffrey Roth, president of the Clark County Medical Society. “She was recognized for her commitment to the community and for her judgement...
In 2017 Dr. Barbara Atkinson was one of the “senoras” honored by Peltyn’s Foundation for Excellence and Distinction.
“Sandy loved what Dr. Atkinson was doing with the UNLV School of Medicine,” said Dr. Prabhu, noting that he and Peltyn often talked as they waited for a plane to take them to a board meeting in Reno. “She knew it was going to change our community for the better.”