Kansas City News Blog

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Chris Mitchell and Dennis Hess

​Chris Mitchell was a close friend and former fiancée of Dennis Hess, the former owner of Denim & Diamonds. Because space constraints and other complications prevented her from being quoted in the October 14 feature, "Denim & Death," she contributed this piece, sent to The Pitch via e-mail, for inclusion in our continuing coverage of the story.

Mitchell writes:

Dennis Hess was the love of my life.

We met about 15 years ago at Denim & Diamonds. He had his perch in the bar where he could sit and see most everything going on. It was from his favorite spot, a railing on the riser nearest the main bar, that he asked me out for the first time. That date started with my first visit to Corner Cafe, included a visit to his hometown of Atchison, Kansas, and ended enjoying the stars on his porch swing. That was the beginning of our years together.

Although I can't speak for the years between his last divorce and the beginning of our relationship, I would hardly describe Dennis as being "relatively unattached" before meeting Lena [Hess]. Dennis shared his love for Denim & Diamonds with me, but it was the sharing of his love for the friends he made there and the love of his family which I cherish most. He asked me to marry him on my birthday in 2002, and we were engaged when we met Lena.

via Facebook

Chris Mitchell and Dennis Hess

​There were times we weren't together. He had a relationship with Karyn Grounds and her allegations of abuse have been mentioned. I was in a committed relationship with Dennis far longer than Karyn and Lena combined. Was Dennis abusive? No. While I was attracted to Dennis himself, Karyn and Lena had something in common: They were attracted to what Dennis had. They wanted his bar and control over his life. They abused the legal system to regain control when things weren't going their way.

MySpace/dennishess

Chris and Dennis

​What came out of our years spent together was a great friendship that Dennis and I both valued. That friendship was something that threatened Lena simply because she wasn't in control of Dennis when it came to me. Our friendship was something she couldn't take away from him. Dennis had given her everything and she still wasn't happy. It became apparent that everything wasn't enough. I think after she had all the material things, she realized people were still drawn to Dennis. She hadn't taken what made him Dennis: his heart and soul. And although she tried, she couldn't take away his family and friends.

Dennis would often tell me he wished we had never gone to the wedding where we met Lena. I shared those thoughts of regret. David Cox remembers him saying that of all the weddings of his employees that he went to, he sure stood to benefit had he skipped that one. More than anything, he wanted his kids to have what he had worked his life to build.

Even though people warned Dennis about Lena's deceitful past, and he uncovered her lies along the way, the goodness in him believed he could find good in her. He truly wanted to believe that she loved him for him and not for what he had.

David and Tiffany Cox, Deann Leddick and I talked about what we would like people to know about Dennis. If you were lucky enough to know him, you would know he had qualities that drew people to him. He was truly a people person. There were no strangers in Dennis' world. He had a smile that was infectious. He was a very giving person who expected nothing in return. He was your friend in good times and in bad times. Genuine, generous, caring, loving -- he was all these things and more.

Dennis Hess brought us all together, and in doing so left us with a forever gift -- each other. Everyone whose life he touched will remember him with love.