Keith Humphrey

Aviation Career

Keith is the founder of Jet AirWerks, LLC, an FAA Part 145 repair station specializing in the repair and overhaul of GE and CFMI commercial jet engine parts, based in Arkansas City, Kansas. On August 20, 2026, he completed the sale of the company to Barnes Aerospace, capping a 50-year career in aviation that began with the U.S. Navy in 1975.

Military Service

Keith served in the U.S. Navy from 1975 until his honorable discharge in 1985 with the rank of Aviation Machinist’s Mate First Class (E-6). He was a P-3 Orion jet engine mechanic and Flight Engineer/2nd Mechanic, serving with VP-9 at NS Rota, Spain, and VP-68, with multiple foreign deployments and TAD assignments to Adak, Alaska, and the USS Nimitz (CVN-68). In 1979, he was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroic actions saving the lives of a fellow sailor and her child from a gas-filled home.

Gold Star Family & Veterans Advocacy

Keith is the Gold Star father-in-law of Sgt. Michael Martins, USMC (OIF 2006–2008, lost in 2009). He helped pass state and federal legislation protecting the military death gratuity during a federal government shutdown (HR 1928, 115th Congress), and worked to establish a Veterans Treatment Court in Sedgwick County, Kansas, where he was appointed to its founding Board of Directors. He is currently a Veterans Advocate with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), and a life member of the Navy League, Fleet Reserve Association, American Legion Post 408, and VFW Men’s Auxiliary 7253.

Political & Civic Involvement

Keith was the Democratic candidate for the Kansas State Senate, 28th District (Wichita), in 2012 and 2016, and former Chair of the Kansas Democratic Party’s Veterans & Military Families Caucus. He currently serves on the board of the Kansas Postsecondary Technical Education Authority (TEA), is a member of the Wichita Independent Business Association and the CommunityGiving Board of Directors, and previously served on the Derby Community Foundation Board.

Creative Work

Keith has worked as a stage and screen actor, writer, and filmmaker — with several screenplays and numerous acting credits, including writing and producing Miles Apart, a feature film released in Hong Kong in 2000.

Athletics & Adventure

For over 20 years, Keith was a marathon runner, completing six full marathons and countless road races, including multiple runs to the summit of Pikes Peak. While living in the Philippines with his family, he trained and became a PADI Rescue Diver, logging several hundred open-water dives.

Personal

Born Keith De Soto in Santa Maria, California, in 1957, he was adopted and raised by his stepfather. Sober since February 22, 1982 — #ODAAT. Keith and Thérèse have six children and eight grandchildren, and make their home in Derby, Kansas.