Kentucky School Advocate
April 2025
Q. You’ve been on the board for 12 years. What made you want to serve on the local school board?
A. When I started in 2013, my children had both graduated from our local school. I had a business, and I was an airline pilot as well. But in the meantime, I’ve always been interested in public service and believed it is important.
I’ve talked several of my friends into running for various positions. I say to them, ‘Quit complaining and put your foot on the line.’
Q. And did they?
A. Some have. One was appointed to the library board, and another was elected city councilman. They stepped forward, and that’s what it takes. It’s easy to complain and, as we know looking at today’s headlines, the world is a complicated place. But you can’t give up on it.
Q. Before you were a commercial pilot, you were in the U.S. Air Force. How did you get interested in flying and why did you decide to make a career of it?
A. I grew up in the 60s and 70s and was a big fan of NASA and the moon shots. I would see fighter jets on television and in movies and think, ‘Boy, that would be a great job!’ So, I was in the Air Force ROTC at UK and eventually went to pilot training. I was active duty for eight years, flew fighters and trainers and was an instructor in both. Back then, at the eight-year point, you either decided to be career military or pursue an airline career. My wife wanted to move back here, near family, so we did, and I commuted to Chicago to fly for American Airlines for 32 and a half years.
Q. In addition to flying, you also had a side business?
A. Yes, in 1999 we opened an eight-screen movie theater here in Bardstown, and in 2011 an eight-screen in Mount Washington. We eventually sold the Mount Washington location and got completely out of the business in 2022. We had some great years, and I enjoyed it very much.
Q. You ran against an incumbent for state representative in the 2024 Republican primary. Is serving in a higher office something you will aspire to again?
A. It was a brutal process, especially trying to unseat an incumbent. I put my heart into it and worked hard, and it didn’t turn out in my favor. Friends said, ‘Man, I bet you wish you would never done that.’ I said, ‘As hard as defeat is, stepping to the line is important.’ If I had been elected state representative, education would have been top priority. There’s so much disparity in starting incomes for teachers, and we are having a hard time attracting good talent. There are several things I had in mind to try to fix it. You never know if the opportunity will present itself in the future. Don’t ask my wife this question though. She’ll flat tell you, ‘No, it won’t happen.’
Q. What’s something that’s going on in your district that you’re particularly proud of?
A. We had an open house last week at what was one of our elementary schools, now the Bardstown Polytechnic Center. It’s an amazing facility with exceptional programming like culinary arts and health services. There’s robotics, a full television studio. We have also received another level of state funding for a project to redo our entire campus, which includes the high school, a middle school and a new elementary school. We have already put in geothermal and will do a major redo of the high school. A second floor will be added, there will be an arts department and other improvements.
Getting to know
Hometown: Bardstown
Family: Wife, Terri, married 40 years in July; daughter, Alyssa; son, John; three grandchildren, Rose, Tripp and Ruth
Favorite subjects in school: History and science
Hobbies: Now that I’m retired, trying to get back to golf. When you’re old, you’ve got to play pickleball.
Book recommendation: A Lincoln biography, “With Malice Toward None” by Stephen Oates. Lincoln kept a young nation together when it could have gone sideways so easily. He had the desire to make sure that when the Civil War ended, the United States would still be whole, and he took great measures to make that happen.
Interesting fact: I flew and instructed on the F-15 Eagle in the U.S. Air Force. When I was very young, I saw that plane do a time-to-climb on television. Then, when I grew up, I got to fly the F-15. It was quite a thrill.