Kathleen DeVille, July 6th, 2025

Kathleen DeVille, July 6th, 2025

Kathleen DeVille was my Dad’s limousine driver in Las Vegas for many years. They became good friends. Kathleen was stocky, 5’4”, with long blonde hair. Kathleen always wore a tuxedo. She didn’t take any shit from anybody.

Kathleen drove my wife and I a few times around Sin City. We were friends, too. We were driving down the Las Vegas Strip one afternoon and Kathleen was discussing her celebrity passengers. Kathleen was very talkative.

Kathleen: Sarah Jessica Parker is a great actress, and a good person. She was always kind and tipped well. Katie Couric is a bitch. She never tips.

Me: Who was your worst passenger?

Kathleen: Some guy named Axl Rose. He was a rock star, but I never heard of him. He was doing things in the back seat that I won’t allow. I kicked him out of the limo right here on the Strip.

…

Then there was the time that the Father/Son Golf Tourney was playing at Bear’s Best golf course up on the western side of Las Vegas in the foothills. There were 12 of us golfers, fathers and sons, waiting at dawn at the Mandalay Bay Hotel for the shuttle bus to take us across town to the golf course.

Our driver was late picking us up. Then, he couldn’t find the golf course. The driver was from the Middle East. We arrived at Bear’s Best 3 minutes before our tee times. We scrambled to get our clubs on the golf carts and get to the first tee.
The course is called “Bear’s Best” because it was designed by Jack Nicklaus, the Golden Bear. He is one of the best golfers in history. Nicklaus designs golf courses all over the world. For Bears Best, Jack put in his favorite 18 holes that he’d designed on other courses.

Jack is a sadist. Every hole had water, for rough, a three-foot-high gorse (no doubt from Scotland), trees, and sand, lots of sand traps.

I had a 17 handicap at the time. The course was way beyond my golf skills. I lost 12 golf balls. I was in the sand so often, I felt like a cat. I put golf balls into water hazards like a destroyer sending depth charges into the sea, looking to sink a U-boat.

Finally, the sunny, windy, 100°F round of golf was over. The driver of the shuttle bus was waiting for us. We loaded up our clubs, grabbed some beers from the cooler full of ice in the shuttle bus, and headed back to the Mandalay Bay Hotel on the Strip.

We had the usual gay repartee on the way back to the hotel, telling stories and having laughs, but I could see that my Dad was not happy with our driver. He’d been late. Couldn’t find the golf course, and was incompetent. I saw Dad using his cell phone. He had called Kathleen DeVille, who was in charge of drivers at the limo company.

Kathleen was upset that the driver had let my Dad, her favorite customer and friend, down at the Father/Son event.

When we finally made it back to the Mandalay Bay Hotel, Dad told us all, “Say goodbye to Omar the carpet dealer.”

We all said, “Goodbye Omar!” And that was the end of Omar’s limo driving career. Kathleen fired him when he returned the shuttle bus to the limo HQ (barn).

Dad would bring Kathleen along to shows and dinners to show his appreciation for all she did for the Father/Son event. It was difficult coordinating arrival times at the airport and departure times for all 12 participants. Plus, arranging transportation to the daily dawn golf rounds, returns to the hotel, and then the dinners at restaurants around Las Vegas.

One time, it was just my brother, Dad, and me for our own father/son get-together. We had Kathleen drive us to Capitol Grill for lunch. It’s across the Strip from the Wynn Hotel.

When we came out after lunch, Kathleen had a small dog in her arms.

“I found it hanging around the dumpster. I think it’s a stray. I’m taking it home.”

And she did. Kathleen loved animals. Limo drivers, not so much.

Kathleen was a great friend.

TJM