Southern Nevada Model T Club 2012 President Frank Ross with his wife Suk Hi at Red Rock Canyon,   Photograph by Terry
Handy, November 2011.  Copyright Terry Handy and SNMTC, 2011.  The profile of Mr. and Mrs. Ross is provided by courtesy of
the Ross Family.

Frank and Suk Hi Ross met and married in 1988, while they were both serving in the United States Air Force at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.  They have four adult children and three grandchildren.

 

Frank retired from the United States Air Force after 20 years of service, and has since pursued his career as a Registered Nurse in San Antonio, TX, and Phoenix, AZ. He retired completely in 2003 when he accompanied Suk Hi to Lakenheath Air Base, England.  He has a private pilot's license and enjoys riding motorcycles as well as tinkering with anything mechanical.
 

Suk Hi is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) and has served as Chief Nurse Executive Officer at McChord AFB, and Surgical Operations Squadron Commander at Misawa Air Base, Japan. In her 25 year Air Force career she has been deployed to Kuwait and Iraq and served in Arizona, Texas, Washington, Korea, Japan, and England before coming to Nellis. She likes her career and has no plans to retire in the near future.

 

Frank found his 1923 Ford Runabout in Puyallap, Washington in July, 2007 and taught himself to drive it. Since it was already in pretty good mechanical shape when he bought it, he has gradually replaced and repaired many of the little things that needed work including the windshield, windshield posts and frames, radiator, water pump, wood-spoke wheels, tires, ignition switch, interior upholstery, top and wheel  bearings. Suk Hi loves the Model T and helps with repairs and likes to ride "shotgun" whenever she can.  She was especially helpful in mounting the tires on the split-rims, a job not for the faint of heart.

Terry Handy and "Sugar."  Best of Show and First Place People's Choice, "Still Cruisin" Antique Car Show during Beatty Days, 2005, Beatty, Nevada.  Photograph by John T. Craft October 15, 2005.  Copyright John T. Craft and SNMTC 2010.

Terry Handy is the Southern Nevada Model T Club Vice President for 2012; he was also Vice-President in 2003 and 2010 and club President in 2004 and in 2011.  Born and raised in the flatlands of Kansas in Garden City, Terry found his way to Southern Nevada when he came to visit an older brother in 1975.  A gifted master tradesman and electrician and mechanic, Terry's talents earned him a position in Las Vegas as a slot machine technician and eventually as a slot administrator, positions that he held for a total of 32 years.  Things electrical and mechanical and adventuresome have occupied his interests genuinely:  he built and enjoyed Garden Railroading for ten years and also built and flew fixed wing remote controlled model airplanes for more than ten years.  He often flew the planes with other enthusiasts in Jean, Nevada, at the Dry Lake.  A true "car man," Terry owned and maintained and raced Superstock Mopar Plymouths on local drag racing circuits in 1963, 1964, and 1965.  The factory-built Plymouths were very popular at that time, and Terry turned 105.6 mph in the quarter mile in one of his cars.  It could be said that Terry rode a train into the Southern Nevada Model T Club as he shared his Garden Railroading hobby with John Craft who introduced him to the Model T and had him drive his car a few times.  Terry says that with that he was "hooked," and he bought his own Model T and became an avid owner and driver.  Terry is respected as a gentleman, a knowledgeable and savy Model T owner, and his beautifully maintained cars are a club treasure.  Terry owns a 1926 Model T Ford Coupe and a 1927 Model T Roadster Pickup.




Amy and Richard McGuinness seated on the running board of their 1924 Ford Touring Car, April, 2010.  Photograph by G.A. Villa.  Copyright G.A. Villa and SNMTC 2010.

Amy McGuinness is the newly elected Southern Nevada Model T Club Secretary for 2012, having served in that capacity in 2011; and Richard McGuinness will be working as the Tour Master in 2012 after sharing those responsibilities with Gary Cooper in 2011.

Amy and Richard McGuinness are U.S. Airforce career military, and together they have served a total of 38 years.  Richard joined the Air Force at 19 years old from his family home in Eastern Long Island, and Amy joined two years after graduating from Appleton West High School in Appleton, Wisconsin.  In April, 2005, while stationed at RAF Lakenheath in England,  Amy and Richard met at an Environmental Safety Training Class, and two years later on May 25, 2007, they were married.  Richard talks quietly but glowingly of Amy, and Amy said without reservation that Richard is "the love of my life." 

Richard spent 21 years as a helicopter mechanic and earned the rank of Master Sergeant before volunteering for special duty as a First Sergeant serving the Commander's Enlisted Personnel Executive.  Richard by his own definition is a social worker in that role and is responsible for helping with positive morale, discipline, and the well-being for all squadron members.  This may include  helping with personal issues that arise when families are separated by reason of deployment, with child safety and welfare, and with financial problems.  He also serves as a liason with the militaries of 19 other nations when these social issues cross international boundaries.  For the past five years, First Sergeant McGuinness has been helping men and women serving in the military.

Amy is a radar technican by U.S. Air Force description who also worked with High Altitude Reconnaisance Aircraft at Beale Air Force Base in California, but she also branches out privately into auto restoration with work on her 1969 Lincoln Continental and her 1965 Pontiac Bonneville.  She and Richard are both Harley-Davidson motorcycle enthusiasts:  his is a 2000 Harley-Davidson Superglide, and hers is a 2010 Harley-Davidson Crossbones.   When Amy isn't untangling the wiring in and rewiring her car projects, she is an avid knitter and crochet enthusiast who is also interested in recreating the vintage fashions of the Model T era, and particularly those of the 1920's and 1930's. Interestingly, Amy is also a die-hard Wonder Woman (Linda Carter) fan.

The McGuinness' 1924 Model T Touring Car was found through the offices of the Secretary of the Model T Register of Great Britain while they were stationed there.  The car originally came from Miami, Florida, and it was shipped to Great Britain in the 1990's.  In about 2000, the car was sold to a buyer in West London who did the body restoration.  The car was used in the 2006 production of the Movie Flyboys in three brief scenes before Amy and Richard purchased it in 2007.  The car was shipped back to the United States in November and December of 2009, and it arrived in the Los Angeles Harbor on February 2, 2010.  Club member Harold Mann traveled to Los Angeles with Richard, and the two men trailered the car back to Las Vegas on February 5, 2010.

The Southern Nevada Model T Club is delighted and proud to have Richard and Amy as members and club officers.




Photograph by Ken Schofield, Cheshire, England.  Copyright Ken Scholfield and SNMTC 2010.

John Craft is an 13-year member of the Southern Nevada Model T Club, and he led the club as President in 2003.  He has served the club as the Historian from 2004, and he begins his eighth consecutive year as Historian this year, 2012.  John was born in Kansas, and he began his varied and distinguished work career with a two-year stint as a U.S. Army paratrooper from 1953 to 1955.  He served as Jumpmaster from 1954 to 1955.   Following his time in the U.S. Army, he met and married his wife of 54 years, Sharolyn, in Nebraska.  A natural engineer and craftsman, John graduated from the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1959, and he went on to work for the Boeing Company, during which time he earned his Private Pilot Certificate in 1962.  Later John was President of the Jolyn Corporation in South Dakota where he oversaw the manufacture of self-loading, loader-mounted concrete mixers.  Privately, John invented the Bedcap-Camper and was awarded U.S. Patent No.3,512,828 in 1970, and he was the co-inventor of the circumferential friction chain drive which holds U.S. Patent No. 3,599,502.  John also served as project manager for paving and bridge projects and for water treatment plants.  His work as a designer and pattern maker of sophisticated window shutters sets the tone for the known quality of his work on his Model T cars and overall:  meticulously crafted, carefully finished, and beautifully maintained.  John's generosity within the club finds expression with mechanical help and wood-working help where the need arises.  His photographs demonstrate his considerable talent (his photograph of Jimmy Carter on "Members' Profiles Page 2" is a worthwhile example), and his written and photographic histories of club events are appreciated and prized.  John has a 1927 Ford Model T Roadster (pictured here) and a 1927 Ford Model T Depot Hack. 






































Photograph copyright G.A. Villa and SNMTC 2010.

Harold Mann and Dortha, his wife of 57 years, have been with the Southern Nevada Model T Club from the very beginning when Harold joined four others in forming the club in 1992.  Mr. Mann initiated the successful effort to bring the Southern Nevada Model T Club into the Model T Club of America as a charter member.  During that time, Harold has served as club President for five years and has served variously as Treasurer and Tourmaster.  Notably, Harold has edited and produced the SNMTC newsletter, T Driver , almost exclusively during his 20 years with the club.  That newsletter has and continues to reflect his generosity with the club members and his sensible passion for the Model T Ford.  One may note briefly that he has a background in aeronautical engineering and that he has worked as a professional petroleum engineer, but what is most important to him is his work with the Southern Nevada Model T Club and the great pleasure he derives from driving any one of his four cars:  1925 Ford Model T Runabout; 1926 Ford Model T Runabout; 1918 Ford Model T Touring Car; and his 1913 Metz Speedster (one of four original Metz model speedsters known to exist).    The picture included with this profile is, fittingly, one of Harold driving one of his Model T Ford cars recently.  In 2010 Mr. Mann was one of three members given an award of appreciation by the Southern Nevada Model T Club for his prominent role in the organization and creation of the club. 
 





Photograph by John T. Craft, 1/30/2010.  Copyright John T. Craft and SNMTC 2010.

Jim McCracken served as President of the Southern Nevada Model T Club in 2009 and 2010, and he served the SNMTC in 2011 as the Club Vice President.  Mr. McCracken remembers gratefully when he first brought his1924 Ford Fordor Model T Sedan (not pictured here) to the club meeting place with more questions than answers about how to get it running.  He says he was greeted cordially, and within a very short time after some of the club members rolled the car into a service portal, the car was running, and Jim says "...and I just been runnin' ever since."  A talented welder with respected mechanical skills, Jim has designed and built original hot rods from the ground up.  Jim also helped design and build the aluminum rocket cages used to restrain and transport experimental animals (monkeys) into space and back in the early days of the United States space program.  Additionally, he built important earthbound satellite communication towers (some 110 feet in height).  He is very much appreciated for his good leadership and for the generous application of his time and talent to help club members with their Model T restoration needs. 

 
Photograph of Mr. Cooper 2010 by G.A. Villa.  Copyright G.A. Villa and SNMTC 2010.

Gary Cooper is a long-time Tour Master who will begin his new duties in 2012 serving as the Membership officer.  Mr. Cooper is one of the founding members of the Southern Nevada Model T Club.  At its inception in 1992, the club actually met at his piano tuning shop.  Gary's piano tuning business was just part of his talent as a musician:  he played bass guitar and was particularly known for his banjo solos.  Another of his talents is that of a master Model T Ford mechanic.

Gary was born and raised in Ronan, Montana, where his dad was a Ford garage mechanic.  He worked with and around his dad, and began working on Model T Fords when he was 14 years old.  Any time spent in the Southern Nevada Model T Club garage facility with Gary is unquestionably an education in the techniques and expertise of Model T Ford mechanics and repair.

The owner of a 1924 Model T Ford Touring car, Gary is an 19-year member who has served as President for two years and as Tour Master for eight years.  The 1909 Model T Ford Touring Car appearing on the cover of the January-February 2009 The Vintage Ford (Volume 44 Number 1) was restored by Mr. Cooper.

Before this writer had the privilege of joining the Southern Nevada Model T Club and the privilege of Gary Cooper's acquaintance and friendship, any time a conversation about Model T Fords began, Gary was referred to with respect and appreciation.  "Who is this guy?"  I thought.  Now I know, and I hold him in the same high regard as others in Las Vegas.

Gary and his wife of 34 years, Ramona, are anchoring members of the Southern Nevada Model T Club.   In 2010 Mr. Cooper was one of three founding members given an award of appreciation by the Southern Nevada Model T Club for his prominent role in the creation and organization of the club.