Order of the SPR
“Safety, Professionalism, Reliability”
In Recognition of Significant and Enduring Contribution
The order of the SPR is the highest award the NPMA bestows on an individual and recognizes significant and enduring contributions to the aviation fueling world. Members of the order are eligible for consideration for the John “Jack” F. Lavin Lifetime Achievement Award.
Members of the Order of SPR have had real impact. The symbol is the universal aircraft fueling adapter, or “SPR,” the single point receptacle, an acronym coined by the military when the first large jet aircraft pressure refueling systems were designed and built in the late 1940s. SPR it has been for the past 60 years.
The people honored with induction into the order have one thing in common — they have that little extra making the difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary. As the eligibility criteria state, they have accepted the challenges so that we feel the exhilaration and are inspired by their success. They epitomize that the purpose of life is to have a life of purpose.
There is no rank or order, rather they are all peers who have been the leaders, the doers, the innovators, the pioneers, the builders, the standard bearers; those who really stand out and made a difference. It is a quiet group, no pomp or fanfare; simply the very best of the best.
The plaque commemorating selection into the Order is the same SPR adapter that is fitted to every aircraft. The award was established in 1991.
Award Recipients
| 1 | John Lavin (1991) | 2 | Paul Dupoise (1991) | 3 | Gomer Custer (1991) |
| 4 | Donald Rogers (1991) | 5 | Earl Denham (1992) | 6 | Houston Sorenson (1992) |
| 7 | William Penton (1992) | 8 | Don Kudrna (1992) | 9 | Joseph Durham (1992) |
| 10 | JamesTurner (1992) | 11 | James Hopp (1992) | 12 | M. Rayde Harrington (1992) |
| 13 | William Fiedler (1992) | 14 | Gary Garlett (1993) | 15 | John Anna (1993) |
| 16 | Charles Nault (1993) | 17 | Leslie Goodwin (1993) | 18 | Larry Dipoma (1993) |
| 19 | Patrick Chesterman (1994) | 20 | Thomas Boland (1994) | 21 | Joseph Volpe (1994) |
| 22 | Harold Glazener (1994) | 23 | Richard Cisco (1995) | 24 | Arnold Clegg (1995) |
| 25 | Howard Gammon (1995) | 26 | Sanford Richardson (1995) | 27 | Jack Holmberg (1995) |
| 28 | Kathryn Pendergast (1995) | 29 | Grat Horn, Jr. (1996) | 30 | Charles DiBona (1996) |
| 31 | Charles Delaney (1997) | 32 | Gene Barr (1997) | 33 | Harold Ensign (1997) |
| 34 | Donald Peschka (1997) | 35 | Herbert Proksch (1997) | 36 | John Thomas (1997) |
| 37 | Bruce Wilbur (1997) | 38 | Richard Dacey (1997) | 39 | Thomas Roberson (1997) |
| 40 | David Herrick (1997) | 41 | Rickey Rice (1998) | 42 | Richard Walte IV (1998) |
| 43 | John Carr (1998) | 44 | Pharris Johnson (1999) | 45 | Elvis Fishburn (2000) |
| 46 | Patrick Mumme (2000) | 47 | Fred Chitty (2000) | 48 | Karl Deibler (2000) |
| 49 | James Mandziara (2000) | 50 | Bruce Hover (2000) | 51 | Donald Kinter (2000) |
| 52 | Michael Kluttz (2000) | 53 | Charles Park (2000) | 54 | John McCormick (2000) |
| 55 | John Johnson (2000) | 56 | Jose Mendez (2000) | 57 | Ausba Pinkham III (2001) |
| 58 | Robert Becker (2001) | 59 | Frank Morse (2001) | 60 | Robert Jarvis (2002) |
| 61 | Nathaniel Wilson (2002) | 62 | Robert Hooks (2002) | 63 | James Miller (2002) |
| 64 | Bruce Overbay (2002) | 65 | L. Arthur Van Rooy (2002) | 66 | James Weldon (2003) |
| 67 | Eric Boling (2003) | 68 | Felix Shepard (2003) | 69 | Stanley Zaucha (2003) |
| 70 | Vinton Doll (2003) | 71 | Sandra K. Walls (2003) | 72 | Robert Scully (2005) |
| 73 | Gerard Biscardi (2005) | 74 | Red Cavaney (2005) | 75 | Thomas Ashman (2007) |
| 76 | Danny Jeffreys (2007) | 77 | Keith Coggins (2007) | 78 | Charles Potts (2007) |
| 79 | Gary Crawford (2007) | 80 | Russ Rhodes (2007) | 81 | Mike Uffer (2007) |
| 82 | Jim Gammon (2009) | 83 | Nate Harvey (2009) | 84 | Don Sumner (2009) |
| 85 | Arnold Thomas (2010) | 86 | Mike Wilkinson (2010) | 87 | Gerald Soper (2011) |
| 88 | Lyman Shannon (2011) | 89 | Jack Vance (2011) | 90 | David Eklund (2011) |
| 91 | Michael Giroux (2012) | 92 | Michael Hooth (2012) | 93 | David Soffrin (2012) |
| 94 | Karl Overman (2012) | 95 | Daniel Cetto (2012) | 96 | Dean Flessas (2013) |
| 97 | Ron Pattie (2013) | 98 | John Cummings (2013) | 99 | Rick McKenna (2013) |
| 100 | Michael Nelson (2013) | 101 | Bob Boseman (2013) | 102 | Kin Chow (2015) |
| 103 | Gregory Bean (2015) | 104 | Alan Watson (2015) | 105 | John Rhode (2015) |
| 106 | Marsha Davis (2015) | 107 | Cleburne Bernhard (2015) | 108 | Jeffrey Baquer (2015) |
| 109 | Phill Vonholtz (2016) | 110 | Mark Heinrich (2016) | 111 | Thomas McCartin (2016) |
| 112 | Frank Rechner (2016) | 113 | Scott Baker (2016) | 114 | Stuart Funk (2016) |
| 115 | Stan Livingston (2016) | 116 | Alan Reynolds (2016) | 117 | James Richardson (2016) |
| 118 | Samuel Varnicle (2016) | 119 | Willie Robohn (2018) | 120 | Jack Appoloni (2018) |
| 121 | William Necker (2018) | 122 | John Gassett (2018) | 123 | Joseph Lovan (2018) |
| 124 | Steve Kephart (2018) | 125 | John Anaya (2018) | 126 | Carol O’Leary (2018) |
| 127 | Jim Young (2019) | 128 | John Esada (2019) | 129 | Mary Favero (2019) |
| 130 | Kevin Ward (2019) | 131 | William McCurry (2019) | 132 | Frank Montalvo (2019) |
| 133 | Terry DeSpain (2019) | 134 | Jon Hatcher (2019) | 135 | Gary Boley (2019) |
| 136 | Bill Gibson (2021) | 137 | John Leonard (2021) | 138 | Mark Norris (2021) |
| 139 | Ken Coggins (2021) | 140 | Ron Crowl (2021) | 141 | Kent Bredehoeft (2021) |
| 142 | Rick Vanshoore (2021) | 143 | Ron Roof (2021) | 144 | Kris Allegood (2021) |
| 145 | Bill Moody (2021) | 146 | Tom Boriack (2021) | 147 | Doug Collins (2021) |
| 148 | Kevin Ward (2021) | 149 | Mike Holgate (2021) | 150 | Bill Rozier (2021) |
| 151 | Vince Benedetti (2021) | 152 | Edward McAllister (2022) | 153 | Charles Shipp (2022) |
| 154 | Derrick Worsley (2022) | 155 | Steve Oakes (2022) | 156 | Dan Liss (2022) |
Members Emeritus:
Carlton Shead (1997)
Alvin Traynor (2005)
