Kyle Fleming photo by Mary Decker Vack.
Story by Pete Vack
Color photos by Jim Salerno
After a brief illness, Kyle Fleming passed away on March 26th,2017. This article originally appeared in “Viale Ciro Menotti” in 2010 but we think serves well as a tribute.
757-499-5170: Anyone who has dealt with Kyle Fleming knows this number by heart. There is no second line and 5170 is always busy. There is no type of recording device. After forty years the number is still the same and still only one incoming line. As a nod toward modernity there are now three phones, one on the wall and two remotes.
Fleming once joked that getting in touch with him is like standing in line for a buffet; everybody’s in a hurry until they get there. “This way everyone has the same opportunity to contact me. I tried the leave a message routine but things got messed up and some people weren’t called back and that caused more problems.”
If you get through to this number you will quickly memorize, odds are Pat will answer. “I’m sorry but Kyle is on a run to the Post office, can I have him call you when he returns?” The voice is cultivated, polite, but firm. Pat has been Kyle’s companion since, well, she won’t say how long but a good while now. A good while. And when he broke his back—twice now, carrying unusually heavy Maserati parts—Pat, a Certified Nursing Assistant, was there for him, taking care of him, keeping the business going. Kyle is indispensable when it comes to Maserati owners; Pat is indispensable to Kyle. [Read more…] about Remembering Kyle Fleming