LP Gas magazine unveils Hall of Fame class of 2017

National propane association leaders. Codes and standards experts. Equipment developers integral to industry growth.

These are among the ways to describe some of the individuals selected for the LP Gas Hall of Fame as part of the 2017 class, which LP Gas magazine announces today.

John D. (Jack) Capps (National LP-Gas Association), Theodore Lemoff (TLemoff Engineering), Darrel Reifschneider (Manchester Tank) and William Young (Superior Energy Systems) make up the 2017 class. The magazine will honor them and recognize their contributions to the propane industry during a black-tie induction dinner and ceremony April 20 in Nashville, Tennessee, prior to the NPGA Southeastern Convention & International Propane Expo.

LP Gas launched its Hall of Fame in propane’s centennial year of 2012 as a way to honor past and present leaders who helped establish, advance and grow the industry. This year’s class brings the total number of inductees to 32. Suburban Propane, AmeriGas, Blossman Gas, Energy Distribution Partners and Tarantin Industries are sponsors of the LP Gas Hall of Fame.

Meet the 2017 class:

John D. (Jack) Capps – National LP-Gas Association

Headshot:John D. (Jack) Capps 

The late Capps served as a leader and a guide to the propane industry by committing his time and efforts to the National LP-Gas Association (NLPGA) as its executive vice president and general manager in the 1970s and 1980s. He led activities that helped to modernize the industry during his time with NLPGA. Capps encouraged the use of the term “propane” instead of “LP gas.” He helped to form several committees that are still vital to the National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) today, including the audit committee, the Certified Employee Training Program (CETP) certification committee and the safety committee. Capps always took member suggestions into consideration and often sought opportunities to implement those ideas. He is also a recipient of the NPGA Distinguished Service Award.

Theodore Lemoff – TLemoff Engineering

Headshot:Theodore Lemoff

Lemoff worked as staff liaison at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for about 26 years for a number of codes and standards. Lemoff served as the editor for eight editions of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Code Handbook and for six editions of the National Fuel Gas Code Handbook. He coauthored the NFPA Pocket Guide to Fuel Gas Storage and Use, and he contributed to the development of the NFPA 54, NFPA 58 and NFPA 59 codes. He has traveled the world for NFPA as its staff liaison and has extensive knowledge over the content of NFPA codes. He has lectured on NFPA 54 and NFPA 58 in seminars throughout his career. He exercised leadership at NFPA to move business forward, and his often-used comment, “Mr. Chairman, if I might suggest,” was key to guiding his discussion in the direction it needed to go to resolve sticking points. In addition, his gift of putting complex requirements into straightforward language helped to focus many NFPA meetings. Lemoff retired from his role as NFPA’s principal gases engineer in 2010, and he started TLemoff Engineering as a consulting business. Today, he remains a valuable resource on NFPA codes for the propane industry.

Darrel Reifschneider – Manchester Tank

Headshot: Darrel Reifschneider

Reifschneider led Manchester Tank as its president and CEO, helping to grow the company from a single site in Los Angeles to multiple plants across the United States, Canada and Australia. He joined his mother, Mollie Reifschneider, to lead the family business in 1955 after graduating from college. Throughout his career, he had a zeal for selling and was loyal to his customers. Reifschneider introduced powder coating to the 20-pound cylinder market, and his company’s efforts helped to further that market overall. The production of large volumes of 20-pound cylinders at low cost to grill manufacturers is a key reason for propane dominating the grill market today. He also helped to introduce the vertical dispenser as a Manchester Tank design. With its former leader as a strong advocate of autogas, the company has shown a willingness to manufacture autogas tanks, even when the market was limited. Throughout the course of the autogas market, the company has developed new tank designs to accommodate new vehicle packaging. Reifschneider is characterized as someone who remained steadfast to the propane industry, even through tough times in the industry’s history.

William Young – Superior Energy Systems

Headshot: William Young

For more than half a century, Young has dedicated himself to the safety and improvement of the propane industry. He began his career as a staff engineer for Industrial Gas, a small propane company in Pittsburgh. Not long after, he started to work on his first water-bath vaporizer and propane-air blender systems. Young sums up his career in the industry by saying that he “builds the products and ideas that no one else wants to build.” Young helped to found Superior Energy Systems in 2002, and with his expertise as vice president of engineering the company has manufactured bulk plants and trans-shipment terminals that are used throughout the United States. In more recent years, Young recognized the industry’s need to focus on propane autogas. He has worked with his engineering group to steer the company to manufacture a range of certified turnkey propane autogas dispensing systems. Having been involved in industry standards for decades, Young puts a priority on compliance and safety. He has shared his knowledge as a member of numerous NPGA and NFPA technical committees. He has testified in front of governmental organizations, and he continues to educate communities about propane. The NFPA Standards Council honored him this year with its Committee Service Award. “[Young’s] commitment to safety in handling and using a hazardous material such as propane is evident by the many decades that he participated [in writing codes and standards] at his own expense,” says Bruce Swiecicki, senior technical adviser at NPGA. “The propane industry is indebted to [Young] for his contributions over the years.”