National Philatelic Exhibitions of Washington, D.C., Inc.

in memoriam

Douglas K. Lehmann (1939-2014)


Douglas LehmannIntroduced to stamp collecting in his childhood by an uncle, Doug became an active member of numerous philatelic societies and an avid writer, exhibitor, and renowned expert on Philippine revenue stamps. In 1993, he published Fiscal Stamps of the Philippines: A Catalogue, 1898 to 1946, which remains the foremost reference on the subject. His other collecting interests included Canal Zone, Christmas and Easter Seals, and first day covers of the 1939 New York World’s Fair issue.

He held degrees from the State University of New York College of Forestry, Syracuse University, and George Washington University. Following a long career in the U.S. Army that included tours in Vietnam, he continued working for the Army as a civilian employee. He retired in 2000.

Doug died at home on September 3, 2014. At the time of his death, he had been a director of NAPEX for more than a quarter century, including two terms as president (1997-1998 and 2001-2004) and show chairman (1999-2001). NAPEX has established an annual special exhibiting award in his name for excellence in revenue or cinderella philately.

  • Gerhard Wolff (1929-2012)
  • Gerhard WolffGerhard collected stamps as a boy in Hanover, Germany until his family fled the Nazis in 1941 and settled in Washington, D.C. After serving in the Korean War, he graduated from Benjamin Franklin University, known for its accounting program, and began a nearly forty-year career as a CPA.
  • His childhood hobby developed into a passion for aerophilately. Zeppelin mail in particular provided him with a link to his German heritage. Philatelic exhibiting brought Gerd many prestigious national and international awards; he rarely missed a show. He exhibited at NAPEX for the first time in 1964 and served as a director from 1980 until 2005, many of those years as treasurer.
  • Gerd served on the finance committee of the Washington 2006 World Philatelic Exhibition. He was an active member of the Collectors Club of Washington and the Washington Stamp Collectors Club for more than forty years, many of them as club auctioneer. He was a long-time officer of the American Air Mail Society and member of the Potomac Philatelic Society. Gerd died April 23, 2012.
  • Patricia Lehmann (1935-2011)
  • Patricia LehmannPatricia spent her entire adult life in the federal service, much of it with the U.S. Department of State where she was most recently employed by the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations. She was a continual and dedicated presence at NAPEX shows for more than fifteen years.
  • She volunteered at NAPEX for five years before becoming a director in 2001, and was in her fourth term at the time of her death. Over the years Patricia chaired several committees, including Publicity, Youth, and Hospitality. In the latter role she was quite literally "the face of NAPEX," the first director most visitors encountered at the show and a gracious hostess in the after-banquet hospitality suite. During the Washington 2006 World Philatelic Exhibition her State Department skills were used in the bin room working with international exhibits commissioners.
  • Patricia died November 6, 2011. A NAPEX-sponsored AAPE Youth Exhibit Award for the Best Exhibit with a Global Theme is named in her honor.
  • Stephen Luster (1938-2010)
  • Stephen LusterA 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. The NAPEX award for excellence in thematic, first day cover, and display class exhibiting is named in his honor.
  • Charles J. Peterson (1933-2009)
  • Charles PetersonA 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)
  • Nicholas G. CarterA 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)
  • Henry HahnHank 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 Telc.
  • 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 SchlossHoward 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)
  • Milton MitchellAn 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 TorreyGordon Torrey, a retired CIA analyst, was a world-famous expert on the stamps and postal history of Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire. He was president of the Rossica Society for nearly two decades and 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 DenisonEllery 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 N. HoffmanJohn 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 YortSvend 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).

NAPEX 2024

Friday, June 7: 10 am to 6 pm
Saturday, June 8: 10 am to 6 pm
Sunday, June 9: 10 am to 4 pm

Hilton McLean Tysons Corner 7920 Jones Branch Drive McLean, Virginia 22102


Do not try to make the reservation through Hilton.com.
There are 2 ways for NAPEX attendees to make their hotel reservations:
Make On-Line Hotel reservations
or
Phone the Hilton reception desk directly at (703) 847-5000. Use rate code NAPX24 and tell them that you are attending NAPEX.
Either way you will get the NAPEX show rate (June 03-05):
$129/night + taxes
(single or double occupancy)
Deadline for reservations at $129 rate is May 24,2023
FREE PARKING AND ADMISSION