In Memoriam
Stephen Luster (1938-2010)
A
thematic philatelist who specialized in stamps and covers related to the
integration of Europe, Steve was also an exceptional leader in organized
philately.
He joined NAPEX as a director in 1990, rising rapidly “through the ranks” to
become show chairman within two years, a position he held from 1992 to 1997. He
also served multiple terms as corporation president and vice president. Although
health concerns forced him to resign from the board following the 2003 show,
Steve continued to serve as vice president and general chairman of the
successful Washington 2006 World Philatelic Exhibition.
An accredited philatelic judge, Steve was also president of the Europa Study
Unit and editor of its journal, Europa News, for more than a decade. He
served as chairman of the American Philatelic Society’s first long-range
planning committee.
Only four months before his death, Steve won two vermeil medals at NAPEX and
attended the awards banquet. He died October 13, 2010 following a decade-long
battle against multiple myeloma and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery
with full military honors on January 19, 2011.
Charles J. Peterson (1933-2009)
A
career in the U.S. Army and military intelligence led Charlie to an interest in
stamp collecting. While stationed at Wuertzberg, Munich, Frankfort, and
Heidelberg he assembled an impressive Germany collection. He also became a
nationally and internationally qualified judge with a specialization in
philatelic literature.
Charlie headed the FIP commission that wrote the first international judging
guidelines for philatelic literature in the 1970s, and he authored all the
revisions until 2008. Similarly, he wrote every edition of the U.S. national
regulations from 1981 until 2008. He joined NAPEX as a director in 2003 for
the purpose of starting a literature exhibition. He served as chairman of the
first two NAPEX literature competitions in 2004 and 2005 and as chief judge for
the 2007 competition.
Charlie died June 12, 2009. His last public appearance was at the NAPEX banquet
the previous week, where he was presented with the AAPE's Bernard A. Hennig
Award "for excellence and improvements in philatelic judging." The
NAPEX literature grand award is named in his honor.
Nicholas G. Carter (1936-2008)
A third generation philatelist and a collector since age 8,
Nick's primary
philatelic interest was British West Africa, where his grandfather was a
colonial administrator and governor. His exhibits of Nigeria, 1914-1952 and the Gold Coast
1928 Christiansborg Castle issue
regularly received national gold medals.
From 1996 until his death Nick served continuously on the NAPEX board. He became
budget director in 1998 and treasurer in 2002, positions he held through 2007. A
strong believer in technology, Nick created a website for
NAPEX in 1996, making us the first World Series of Philately show to go online.
Nick died September 11, 2008 at his home in Bethesda after a long illness.
Henry Hahn (1928-2007)
Hank Hahn was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia,
but fled to New York during the Communist takeover in 1948. The philately of his
ancestral homeland became one of his great passions. An ardent and active member
of the Society for Czechoslovak Philately, he was an editor, exhibitor, judge, and internationally recognized
expert who published a postal history of Telč.
He joined the
NAPEX Board as a director in 1997 and served as Societies Liaison from 1999 to
2005.
Hank died of a heart attack on June 7th, 2007, less than a week after winning a
vermeil medal at NAPEX for his exhibit of covers and cards posted in Bohemia,
Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia and the Carpatho-Ukraine from 1850 to 1918.
Howard Schloss (1932-2004)
Howard
Schloss was an active philatelist with diverse collecting interests that
ranged from Danish locals to Israeli booklet panes and the stamps of Barbados.
He was a member of the Potomac Philatelic Society and the Rockville-Gaithersburg
Stamp Club as well as the Scandinavian Collectors Club, the Society of Israel
Philatelists, the Society for Czechoslovak Philately, and numerous other
organizations.
He served on the boards of the BALPEX, VAPEX, and Washington 2006 shows.
He was honored with the NAPEX President's Award in 2003 for his service as
secretary and assistant floor manager. Howard succumbed to a heart attack on May
15, 2004.
Milton Mitchell (1916-2003)
An
international judge and exhibitor who concentrated on the 3-cent 1861-67 issues,
Milton Mitchell served NAPEX as president from 1983 to 1991; he was also show
chairman for most of those years. In addition, Milton
was at various times president of the Society of Philatelic Americans,
Collectors Club of Washington, Associated Stamp Clubs of the Chesapeake Area,
Central Atlantic Stamp Dealers Association, and the American Academy of
Philately. He was a life member of the United States Philatelic Classics Society
and the American Philatelic Society. He died October 23, 2003.
George Selwyn Mansfield (1919-2001)
George was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand. A decorated veteran of the Pacific and China theaters during World War II,
his military service led him to a philatelic interest in the
Asian countries. He was a member of the American Philatelic Society,
International Society of Japanese Philately, and the China Stamp Society. A
NAPEX director from 1982 until 1997, he served as secretary, banquet chairman,
and cover and card sales manager. He was awarded the NAPEX President's Award on
the completion of his service.
George died October 19, 2001 of complications from a stroke. He was interred at
Arlington National Cemetery on November 15, 2001 following a Marine funeral with
full military honors.
Ralph Irvin Sigler (1924-1996)
Ralph was an active collector of German stamps and longtime NAPEX director.
He joined the board in the 1960s and was
bourse chairman, floor manager, and security
chairman for more than twenty years.
Ralph served in WWII in the Italian Campaign, where he was awarded the
Purple Heart. He lived most of his life in the Washington, D.C. area where
he spent 43 years working for the U.S. Postal Service. Ralph died November
28, 1996 in Leonardtown, Maryland.
Gordon H. Torrey (1919-1995)
Gordon Torrey, a retired CIA analyst, was a world-famous expert on the stamps and postal history of Imperial Russia and the Ottoman
Empire. His collections won numerous medals and he served on the expert
committees of both the APS and the Society of Philatelic Americans.
Gordon was on the NAPEX board for many years during the 1960s and 1970s. He was
also a director of SIPEX, the Sixth International Philatelic Exhibition, held in
Washington, D.C. in 1966.
Ellery Denison (1900-1989)
Ellery Denison began his interest in Chinese philately while working in Hong
Kong in the 1930s. He built and exhibited an extensive collection of China that
ranged from stamps to postal history, and from the classics to modern issues.
He was president of the China Stamp Society for twenty-five years and
wrote extensively for its journal, China Clipper. Denison was also
active in the philatelic organizations in the Washington, D.C. area, serving as
president of several clubs and as a trustee of the NAPEX organization.
John N. Hoffman (1923-1982)
John
Hoffman was chairman of NAPEX from 1972 until his death a decade later. Under
his leadership, the show became an annual event and moved from the Shoreham
Hotel in Washington to the Twin Bridges Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. He
died suddenly of a heart attack on July 7, 1982, three days after
NAPEX's close.
He was president of the Collectors Club of Washington and active in the Society of Philatelic Americans. At the time of his death, Hoffman was curator of Agriculture and Mining at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of History and Technology and a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves.
Svend Yort (1908-1981)
Svend Yort was a noted collector, writer and expert on Scandinavian
philately. He was president of the Scandinavian Collectors Club from 1967 to
1970. A member of many national and local philatelic organizations, he served
the Washington, D.C. area as chairman of the first two NAPEX shows (1950 and
1964) and of the 1966 Sixth International Philatelic Exhibition (SIPEX).
