Ken & Diana

Ken and Diana Kranz met while working together at AAR Corp in suburban Chicago in 1978.

Diana was a native Chicagoan, born and bred. Ken was an Ohio kid, growing up in East Cleveland and graduating from Miami University. After a brief stint in Cincinnati, he transferred to Chicago with MacGregor Golf Company, part of Brunswick Corp at the time. Soon after meeting Diana at AAR Corp, Ken was transferred to Amsterdam, The Netherlands for the next three years. Despite the distance, they were able to maintain their friendship and connection throughout this time and during an additional three years when Ken was transferred to New York. Upon returning to Chicago, they reconnected, and their relationship continued. Diana maintained her career at a local Chicago homebuilder and Ken’s career path took him into other industries, including a cell phone startup which became an integral part of T-Mobile.

Eighteen years after they first met, they got married and Ken became husband, Dad and Grandpa all at the same time. As they started their life together, they discovered they both enjoyed the fun they had with friends who were Corvette owners. Ken had owned an 82 Collector’s Edition in a previous life and was anxious to get another Vette. After owning a 1989 for several years they upgraded to 2002 C5 Millennium Yellow convertible which they still own, and you can see them coming down the road in. They were active members of the Northern Rays Corvette Club in the Chicago area for several years. They also owned a HD Ultra Classic and raised funds for the annual Ride for Kids, supporting the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.

After retirement, Ken and Diana moved to CantaMia in Goodyear in 2019. This brought them close to Diana’s siblings who had moved to the Phoenix area some 50 years earlier and are scattered around the Valley. Their oldest grandson moved to Phoenix shortly thereafter and got married here last April. After settling in, Ken joined EMCC and served as Membership Director before becoming President last year.