Betty Willis, the artist and designer of Nevada’s iconic “Welcome to Fabulous LAS VEGAS Nevada” sign, died on Sunday at the age of 91. While her sign is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been reproduced in countless souvenirs since its creation in 1959, Willis never profited from its massive popularity.

Willis was working for a neon sign company when she designed the infamous welcome sign in 1959. The diamond-shaped sign with the spiked sun top cost only $4,000 to construct, a shockingly low sum considering how much money souvenir shops in Vegas have made reproducing it in the form of key chains, T-shirts, mugs, welcome mats, and other pieces of merchandise. Willis never anticipated that the sign would become such a large draw for tourists, and told the New York Times in 2005 that she “sweat blood” whenever she looked at it, because she was always dissatisfied with the hand-drawn lettering she used on the word “fabulous.” Despite the sign’s enormous popularity, since it was in the public domain, Willis never received any portion of the profits from merchandise which featured her design.

“I should make a buck out of it,” she told the Times. “Everybody else is.”

Willis also designed popular and original signs for Vegas’ Moulin Rouge Hotel and Blue Angel Motel.

Willis’ death was first reported in Virgin Valley & Moapa Valley Mortuaries, which revealed that she passed on Sunday at her home in Overton, a community about 45 miles northeast of Las Vegas. She is survived by her daughter, Marjorie Holland, her grandchildren, and one great granddaughter.