David Lee McNett

The next McNett in our Family Tree is my Dad, David Lee McNett. Dad was born December 11, 1946 in Wisconsin. I believe the hospital was in Cuba City, but he lived in Benton, a small mining town of about 800 people. I know Dad had a rough time growing up with his Father, he had a lot of issues with him and didn't really speak of him. A man in his hometown nicknamed Dad "Gus" and either his brother Stanley or Roger "Gug". "Gus" stuck (although "Gug" didn't), and he became forever known in his hometown as "Gus McNett". Dad joined the Navy when he was 17 so he could get away from his father. His Dad passed away while he was in the Navy. Dad worked on the flightline of an aircraft carrier. He got out of the Navy in December of 1967 and met my Mother New Years Eve that year. The story goes they met New Years Eve, got pregnant Valentines Day, got engaged Easter and married Memorial Day. Dad told me once "and to top it off you had to be 6 weeks early!". LOL
Dad had a great sense of humor, he always had a joke and a hand. He would give someone his last dollar or the shirt off of his back. I've said it before... "if I had all the money people owed him when he passed away I'd be one rich chick". He was just that kind.
Dad didn't graduate from high school, but he made a name for himself in the home improvement business, he was a great salesman and had an unequivocal business sense.
New Years Eve of the millennium Mom and Dad went to see Tim McGraw & Faith Hill in concert in Nashville, TN. Then they went to their cabin in Gatlinburg, TN for a few days. Dad suffered a brain stem stroke and had to be airlifted to the hospital in Knoxville. He passed a few days later.
Dad was extremely proud of his heritage and gave me my love of genealogy. His greatest dream was to go to Ireland, he didn't make it there, but I hope someday I will be able to do that for him.

Present to Past

I think the best way to start is to start with the present. This way, I can continue working on the ancestors, and yet future generations will have the most current data available to them.

So lets begin with me. My name is Michele McNett Kellenbenz, formerly Michele Lynn McNett. I was born in Janesville, WI on October 10, 1968. In 1979 we moved to Florida. I have one brother named Brian. Brian was married and is divorced. He has 2 kids named Patrick & Shalyn, more on them later.
I graduated from Pinellas Park High School in Pinellas Park, FL in 1986, and from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in 1993 with a BS in Business Aviation. After graduation I moved to California and went to flight school where I earned a commercial pilot's license and also became a licensed flight instructor. During the year I lived in California I survived chicken pox (a 104 fever :)), riots, floods, fires, and the Northridge earthquake.
A year later I moved to Ft Lauderdale Florida. In Ft. Lauderdale I managed a flight school and taught flight instruction. I have to say it became obvious that I was much better at the business side than the flight instruction. I was a good pilot, but pilot's aren't cocky for no reason. Being a pilot requires a lot of self confidence, not something I have ever been well known for. But, thanks to my Dad, I have a head for business, and with the creativity I get from my Mom's side, for marketing also.
I lived in Ft Lauderdale for a few years. Then moved back to the Largo area. I bounced around between jobs, never finding one I could make a career with until 2005 when I started working for Walt Disney.

In 2000 I met my husband, Stephen Kellenbenz. We got married November 1, 2003. Currently we live in Largo, FL. My husband is a truck driver, and due to Painful Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (PDPN), I am disabled.

Research

I have been back to working on researching my ancestry, genealogy, since we moved home to Largo. I am only half a mile from the public library which has a very large genealogy center and offers genealogy courses. I have traced my paternal grandfather's lineage back to Malcolm Macnauchthan. Currently I am researching ways to share the growing tree with you.Once I trace the line back as far as I can I will share and begin to compile what stories I can find about my ancestors.
As the McNett's are only 1/4 of my family history I am also researching my other "quarters". First is my paternal grandmother, Virginia Mae Pearce. Next, is my maternal grandfather, Elmer Frederick Vaughn or Vaughan as it appears in the 1920 census. Last is my maternal grandmother Lorraine Cecilia Johnson. I understand from my cousin that her mom, my aunt, has quite a bit of family tree information that my Grandma's favorite nephew, Pete, had compiled, so I will wait on spending time on this "quarter" until I am able to see his research.