A class act all the way

It will be a long time before the propane industry is graced by the kind of class act it is losing with the retirement this month of Dan Myers.

Myers, the executive vice president and general manager of the National Propane Gas Association (NPGA), officially turns over the reins to Rick Roldan as the NPGA completes its restructuring and relocation to Washington, D.C.

Dan has been a leader, front-line soldier and indispensable colleague in this association for 25 years. He arrived from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, where he was manager of federal legislative affairs. Just one year earlier, he completed night school at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington. In time, he worked his way up the ladder from associate general counsel and then vice president-government relations and general counsel for NPGA.

Many in the propane industry considered Dan the perfect leader for this cottage industry. He grew up in a small Kansas town and appreciated the vital role that family businesses play in the fabric of our nation’s heartland. And though his duties to the industry obviously required his representation of the giant multi-state retailers as well, I always sensed his heart and his commitment were grounded in the mom and pops – the true soul of the propane industry.

Dan has a wonderful, quiet strength about him that can be deceiving. He’s not flashy, and in fact shuns the spotlight that others in his position often find so inebriating. That trait has served him well in dancing with so many disparate personalities and egos that go with a group that has 150 members on its governing board.

Professionally, Dan is an insightful, hard-working leader who never considered any task beneath him. NPGA leaders through the years testify to his skills as a calm, effective mediator who provided steady guidance to the industry through turbulent challenges such as proposed ban on unvented gas space heaters and governmental regulation of propane prices.

We are a better industry because of his many contributions.

True as that is, it pales in comparison to his value as an individual. He’s one of the most unpretentious people I’ve ever met, honest and honorable to a degree rarely seen in this cutthroat, me-first age. Always quick with a smile and a laugh, Dan’s word is his bond, and his hand as iron-clad as any legal document he’s ever crafted. The staff who worked for him in the Lisle office love him as a boss and a trusted friend.

Not surprisingly, his deepest love and joy are his family and friends. But he also appreciates a good beer, Winston Churchill and the history of his Irish roots.

You’ll be missed in ways you’ll never know, Dan. Our industry is losing a great man as you go.