Biography for

Dennis O'Braitis

Dennis worked as a management and marketing consultant until 1994 when he retired. He has been married to his wife, Joanie, for 47 years, and they have two children and two grandchildren.

He is Commodore of the Kenosha Yacht Club and has served for twenty years as Captain of the escort boat for Kenosha's "Blessing of the Fleet," leading the "Tall Ships" armada in 2008. He has also served as a volunteer captain for "One Day at a Time" Children's Cancer Camp that provides a fun day on Lake Michigan for children with cancer. 

Dennis has combined his passions for the Great Lakes and woodworking by rebuilding and cruising two classic wooden boats. At age 50 he retired from corporate America to enjoy farming, fishing, and boating the Great Lakes. He holds a Masters license of Inland Seas and an instrument rated pilots license. He has even worked the bridge of an ocean liner through the Panama Canal. 

He and Joan have lived thirty years on a calf-to-finish cattle farm just fifty miles from the Chicago Loop, but they sold off their herd in 2010. Dennis also won "Best of Show" for woodworking two years in a row.