Naples Yacht Club makes history with first female rear commodore

History was made at the Naples Yacht Club earlier this month. 

For the first time in itss 74-year history, the yacht club elected a woman as rear commodore, one of the club’s three highest leadership roles after commodore and vice commodore. 

That woman is Kathy Parks King, 67, a former educator and Pennsylvania native who was first invited to join the Naples Yacht Club in 2011. 

“It’s a tremendous honor,” she said in a virtual interview with the Naples Daily News from her home in Pennsylvania. “I’m really humbled by it all.”

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From a young age, Parks King said she was drawn to the water. Growing up in Pennsylvania, she enjoyed canoeing and boating with friends, she said. 

Parks King and her husband bought a home in Naples in the early 1990s. They have enjoyed boating in the city, she said.

“I think the water just for me, brings out the best in me,” she said.

As Parks King spent more time in Naples she became involved with the Humane Society Naples. 

Her work with the Humane Society led her to connections with the Naples Yacht Club. She was invited to the club in 2011 and joined the board of directors in 2018.

The Naples Yacht Club is the first and oldest private club in the city of Naples. The club is located at the southern end of Seventh Street South in the Aqualane Shores neighborhood.

The club has seen significant changes in recent years. In 2019, a $10 million dollar renovation updated the group’s 1960 clubhouse. 

As rear commodore, Parks King will chair the club’s building and grounds and house committees. She will also guide the club’s strategic planning, she said. 

“I really want to do a great job," she said. “I get tremendous support and encouragement from all the directors and staff and membership. I want to put together a dynamic strategic plan going forward so we can continue our tradition of excellence and honor our traditions of the past.” 

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The Naples Yacht Club’s new commodore, Joseph McLanathan, said he admires Parks King’s leadership skills. She'll do a "great job" and help the club "chart a course for the future," he said. 

McLanathan said it’s exciting for the entire Yacht Club to have Parks King in the rear commodore role. 

“Diversity, in this case gender diversity, helps us get a more complete picture of our membership and their expectations from being a part of the club,” he said. “More than half of our members are female so it is very important to have them represented in this way.” 

Brenda O’Connor, the executive director of membership for the Naples Yacht Club, said Parks King is always smiling and supportive. 

“She’ll bring some new ideas to the table while at the same time holding onto our traditions,” O’Connor said. “That’ll be very important as we’re about to go into our 75th anniversary.” 

Parks King will serve a two-year term as rear commodore for the Naples Yacht Club. It’s a challenge, and she looks forward to doing the best job she can, she said. 

“I’m hopeful that it inspires people to reach beyond their comfort level and encourage men or women at any stage of life,” she said. 

“You’ve always got something you can learn and grow into and it’s a fabulous way to work with people, whom, personally, I would have never had the opportunity to work with otherwise."

Brittany Carloni is the city of Naples reporter at the Naples Daily News. Support her work by subscribing to our local news organization. Find her on Twitter as @CarloniBrittany.