Kansas City Corvette Association

Since I have been a KCCA member for 23 plus years, most of you know me or at least have seen me and my wife Denise at club meetings and events.  I have served as KCCA president in the past in 2002, 2003 and 2005. I have the privilege of calling many members my good friends. We have been through so much together, they are family.

 Denise and I met in 1974 and were married in 1977. I have one son, Keith who attended many shows and events with us in his younger years. He is now 39 years old, married to my favorite daughter-n-law Bekah and the father to my grandson Joe.  Joe is really into Corvettes and has attended many shows and events with us.

My past professional life has been varied. First 25 years or so have been in production management including Plant Operations Manager & Quality Assurance Director for Constar International. Quality Assurance Director at Marley Corp. Started getting into computers in the 80’s and stayed there until retirement. Compter Network Engineer for TWA, America Airlines, General Motors and The Federal Reserve. I have been fortunate to be able to stay in the KC area the entire time. Denise worked as a hairdresser at the same shop for 52 years, retiring in 2015.

When and how did you get involved with Corvette?

I have always been into cars. My first car was a 1969 Rally Sport Z/28 that I owned from 1974 to 2004. When I first met Denise, she was driving a 1967 Marina Blue Chevelle so I knew she liked cars and was a keeper. Our actual first Corvette was a 1987 that I bought wrecked. I removed all drivetrain components & interior. I installed them into a project 1957 Chevy truck that was a father/son project. We put the complete 87 Corvette engine, transmission, front and rear suspension under the 57 truck.  Our first drivable Corvette was the 1998 C5 that we still own and drive. It was Denises daily driver from May of 1999 to her retirement in 2015. Rain, snow, sleet, hail our car has seen it all. We still get it out several times a week and of course to KCCA events. 

What made you decide to get involved as an officer of KCCA?

In 2001, Dean and Linda Christian invited Denise and I over to their house for dinner. Dean said he has been talking to several other members of KCCA and asked if I would be interested in running for president of the club. After thinking on it for a few days I decided to run. Back then, we always had 2 or 3 people running for each office. I was voted in.  This time in 2022, I was approached by several long-term members asking me to run again.

What message would you have to invite people to come join in the fun?

WORD OF MOUTH is our best recruitment tool. I worked with Duane Christian back in 1998-1999 at TWA. We got to talking about my new Corvette. He stated that his dad (Dean) had 2 new C5 Corvettes and was president of a Corvette club. I though two new corvettes? He must be rich! I learned the story and was more intrigued. We went to our first KCCA meeting in July of 1999, everyone was so friendly and nice, we joined in August of 1999. One of my goals is to grow the club in membership. If we are not growing, we are dying. I encourage every member to talk to others about our club. We have a lot of great members and enjoy our hobby. GET INVOLVED, help with a car show, judge, park cars, help the chairperson of the show. Put together a weekend cruise event. Ask members that have done shows, cruises, events. They will help you put one on of your own. 

Check out Nathan and Denise's Corvette