| Stacy Puckett '04
After graduating from McPherson College, I completed a six month internship at the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Fellbach, Germany. Upon my return to the US I began searching for the “right” job for me. I took a temporary position at a restoration shop in Chicago, and continued searching for a job on the West Coast. While in school I attended the Barrett-Jackson car auction in Scottsdale, AZ as a student representative. At the auction, I was introduced to a woman named Kitty Hammer who worked for the LeMay family at LeMay, Inc. in Tacoma, Wash. Her job is to help maintain and keep track of their car collection. She gave me her card and asked me to get in touch with her upon my return. I did and she forwarded me on to Bruce Benson at the LeMay Museum in Tacoma, WA. After some time emailing back and forth Bruce asked me if I would come to the Detroit Auto Show for an interview. After the initial interview, I then flew out to Tacoma to view the collection at the LeMay Museum.  I was unbelievably impressed by the size (2500 cars) and scope of the collection. I knew that it was the place for me. Two weeks later I was on a plane to Tacoma to begin my new job as the Conservator for the LeMay Museum.
Since the Museum is still new and in the development stages, my job consists of many things. Currently we are in the process of assessing the collection. This involves creating a database of all the vehicles in the collection that includes the cosmetic, mechanical and historical assessments that we have completed. I also help to maintain vehicles used in local parades and for local events, as well as restore other vehicles in the collection to running order so that we have a larger pool of vehicles from which to draw. My job is wonderful because of the unbelievable variety of things that I get to do and work on. I also have a wonderful group of volunteers that help keep me sane and a great group of colleagues to work with.
One of my favorite things about my job is getting to exercise our vehicles. Cruising around in the 1924 Lincoln, or the 1916 Pierce or our unbelievably deco 1953 Kaiser Golden Dragon with a bamboo vinyl type makes that next brake job waiting for me in the shop worth it for sure!
In just my first year I've met many car collectors and have seen several unbelievable collections! I am sure the future will bring even more amazing things!
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