Steve Koonce

President

Steve reckons that he must have always had a subconscious interest in cars from the many hours spent in the back of one, traveling cross country with his family. His father’s aerospace career took him to a number of cities across the United States, as well as to England and Australia. But it was in Road & Track magazine that his fascination with cars came into sharper focus. In the 1970s and 80s, Steve and his wife owned a series of clapped out old sports cars which they drove, worked on, and sold to buy the next project car. Currently they maintain a small collection of mostly late model high performance cars, their kinetic art.

 

Steve graduated from UC Riverside and McGeorge School of Law and worked as Counsel for a local firm before starting his own practice. IN addition to the Museum’s board, Steve is also a board member for Capital Stage in Sacramento and is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Carmichael.

 

Besides buying and selling cars, Steve’s main interests are local philanthropy, music (he play electric bass guitar), and traveling with his dogs. Steve has been a docent at the Museum since 2014.

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Tom Tyer

Vice President

Tom has been with Colliers International, an international full-service commercial real estate company for over 30 years. Specializing in industrial facilities, Tom’s crowning achievement was receiving the Association of Commercial Real Estate (ACRE) Broker’s Choice Award in 2015. 

 

Tom graduated from California State University, Sacramento with a major in business administration with emphasis in marketing and a minor in economics. In addition, he also graduated from a 4-year program at the Sheet Metal Workers School with his journeyman’s card. Tom first served in the Air Force Reserve as an Aircraft Structural Repair Specialist. Tom was also the owner and operator of a sailboat dealership in Rancho Cordova before deciding to get into commercial real estate instead.

 

As a kid, Tom remembers his dad getting up at the crack of dawn to listen to the Indy 500 on the radio and helping with the Pinewood Derby and Space Derby. With his dad’s help, Tom competed in the 1964 and 1965 Soap Box Derby held at Aerojet General, winning the “Most Creative Engineering Features” trophy in 1964. Tom and his dad attended the 1971 running of the Indianapolis 500. In 2015, Tom and his son Cameron attended the 99th running of the Indy 500.  Tom is a 28-year member of the Porsche Club of America and a long-time member of the Sacramento Area Miata Owners Association (SAMOA).

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David Felderstein

Secretary

David Felderstein, born in Rochester, NY, and graduated Cornell University Labor Relations School in 1973.  David moved to Sacramento in 1976 and he worked at California Legislature as the state Senate’s analyst on public employee retirement and state employee benefit issues from 1976 to retirement in 2009. 

Met Dan Hoody (a Nurse Practitioner) in 1990 and married him in 2008 when it became legal. David sings Tenor in the Sacramento Choral Society His interest in cars goes back to childhood.   First car was a new 1969 Fiat 124 convertible and first “old car” is a 1981 Fiat 124 convertible, purchased in 1995. Other cars in collection: 1935 Chrysler Airflow Imperial sedan, two 1936 Chrysler Airflow coupes (one an Imperial), 1941 Chrysler Saratoga coupe, 1952 Dodge Coronet coupe, and 1963 Dodge Polara 2-door hardtop coupe.

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Joe Hensler

Treasurer

Joe has been a car enthusiast since his older brother had him going to races and working on cars before age 10. Went to high school in Miami Florida and graduated with an accounting degree. Spent 35 years in the forklift and equipment business selling the last dealership in May of 2019.

 

Competitively raced an E mod Autocross car, sprint and enduro Karts, ran SCCA road races ending in a Spec Miata in 2009. Currently owns 24 classic cars and enjoys touring in them most but also shows car, having been invited to two Pebble Beach concours.

 

Joe has been involved in the museum since 1987 but has been very active since 2006, spending 9 years as Board President and currently serving as Treasurer. Married now 43 years with 4 kids and 4 ½ grand kids.

 

Mary Davis

After attending the University of Michigan, Mary worked for 7 years as a nurse for an Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon. She then added a degree in Marketing and joined Clark Equipment Company for 18 years working with dealers in the field and relocated to Sacramento. In 1991, Mary joined NGK which included opportunities to work various events for Motorsports events. 

 

Mary is involved in multiple organizations, including President of the Croatian American Woman’s Club and Board of Trustee at the Croatian American Cultural Center. In 2008 she was the first woman elected to California Automotive Wholesalers Association’s Board of Directors, and also served on their Manufacturers Advisory Council.

 

Mary has had a passion for racing since the 1970s.  She was a member of the Porsche Club of America (PCA) in Michigan and raced her 912/911 at Mosport in Canada, Mid-Ohio, Michigan International Speedway, Watkins Glen and more. When she moved to California, Mary joined the CSRG Vintage Racing Club out of Sonoma Raceway where she raced vintage cars.

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Mike Whelply

Docent Council Chair

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Alan Galbraith

Alan Galbraith was raised in a motorsports family. Alan’s father, Arthur Galbraith, sought hot rodded thrills on the streets and dirt tracks of Southern California as many other returning WWII vets did in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Alan’s addition to the Galbraith Family didn’t slow things down one bit and some of his earliest memories are from the pits as Arthur raced flatbottom drag boats. Throughout Alan’s life the family kept a revolving stable of hot rods, classics, race cars/boats and restoration projects. The whole family started racing together in the early 2000’s when Art, Alan and his wife Melissa went to the Bonneville Salt Flats and set over a dozen World Land Speed Records on vintage and modern motorcycles. After retiring from a career in Film/Television and Music business, Alan purchased and expanded the Billetproof Hot Rod and Custom Shows and founded the Concours d’Lemons. The latter being a worldwide series of car shows that highlight the worst of the automotive world in a tongue in cheek manner.

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Don Tollefson

Don grew up in Southern California in the 60s, so it was always about cars, surfing and music.  Cruising Whittier Blvd. on a Friday night was either in a jacked up loud car or a slow VW Bus with surfboards on the top.

 

After college and 15 years of restaurants it was time for Minnesota where Don turned an egg farm into a state of the art hog farm, producing over 95,000 pigs a year.  Northfield, Minnesota, cared about how big your John Deer tractor was, not your car.

 

So back to California where 25 years ago Don opened up Batteries Plus Bulbs.

 

Don is married with six kids and has been on the Sunrise MarketPlace Board for over 20 years.

 

Besides volunteering at church, Don is a member of the Porsche Club of America (PCA) and 356 Club.  Don is currently restoring a VW Bug.

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Steve Meyer

Steve has been an automotive enthusiast since his mid-teens when he was a member of a stockcar pit crew at the Placerville Speedway in the mid 1970’s.

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Steve graduated from Cordova High School and American River Collage with a degree in Welding Technology.  He worked at Palm Iron and Bridge Works for 8 years before a 30-year career at Los Rios Community College District in the Facilities Management Department.  During his tenure at Los Rios, he was active in his union (SEIU), serving as a Shop Steward and trustee of the local. He also served on many Los Rios committees (Budget Committee and Chancellor’s Cabinet).

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Steve is an Eagle Scout (1973), volunteers on the Sacramento Southern Railroad (at the California State Railroad Museum), and is a member of the Sacramento Modular Railroaders.

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Steve has been a Docent at the California Automobile Museum since 2018.

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Glenn Rondeau

Glenn has been a car enthusiast almost since birth, and definitely addicted since he began reading about them by age 5. Building soap-box cars and go-karts at age ten and working on his first car, an Isetta, in high school.

Moving to Silicon Valley in 1967, he began working in the electronics industry while attending San Jose State University, graduating with a degree in Industrial Design with minors in electronics and business administration. His ID thesis project was a D sports-racer which he raced in SCCA regionals. He also autocrossed a Sunbeam Tiger and was a founding member of STOA – Sunbeam Tiger Owners Association.
 

After retiring from Silicon Valley to the Sacramento area, Glenn discovered the California
Automobile Museum. He became a docent, graduating with the class of 2011. He also serves on the Exhibits Committee and edits the Docent Newsletter. His garage currently hosts a 1960 Jaguar MK IX and a 1956 Chris-Craft “woody”.

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Ed Silva

Ed has had an appreciation for antique cars from an early age and could often be caught doodling various automobiles.  He has fond memories of spending time “under the hood” with his father since first grade.  Through his high school years, he enjoyed making precision models of cars from the 20s, 30s, and 40s.  A lot of his time went to keeping his Chevy Nova in pristine condition, a Chevy that lasted over 250,000 miles.
 

Ed received his Bachelor of Science from U.C. Davis with a focus on chemistry, math, and computer science.  He received his Master of Science from CSU, Sacramento in electrical and electronic engineering.  After several years of designing circuits and writing code for the medical and computer industries, he moved to the management track and held various senior management positions.

After his “second retirement”, he joined our docent team and fully engaged in museum activities including docent training, school tours, and road crew.  During a gap in management, Ed stepped in as interim Executive Director to clean and re-energize the museum after the COVID slowdown.  Because of his contributions, he was invited to the Board in 2022.

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Scott Mikkelson

Scott has had a lifelong passion for cars since his dad bought him his first Corgi die-cast at the age of 6 (he still owns that little car). Currently he and his partner Todd have 15 cars in their collection including such rarities as an Amphicar and Mercury Marauder x100.
 

Scott started working at a local custom drapery store, Sierra Window Coverings at the age of 16, working there for 20 years and then acquiring the business  in 1993 until retiring in 2019. It was then that his friend David Felderstein suggested he join our board— which lead to other volunteerisms and now studying to be a docent.

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John Smith

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Kellie Smith