The Florida Aviation Trade Association (FATA) and Eastern Aviation Fuels, the exclusive distributor of Shell branded aviation fuels in the United States, have established the Gary Steele Scholarship Fund as part of the FATA Scholarship Program.
The fund is set up to honor the memory of Gary Steele and support the FATA/Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Scholarship Fund.
Steele, a longtime supporter of FATA and customer of Shell Aviation, passed away in 2012 at the age of 69. He served in the US Air Force during the Vietnam era and was the airport manager for Charlotte County Airport Authority in Punta Gorda, Florida.
As Eastern Aviation Fuel’s Vice President, Mike Allen says, “Gary’s love in life was flying planes and talking to those who shared his passion. Our only hope is to honor his dedication and spirit for our industry through the support of the scholarship.”
The Florida Aviation Trade Association, founded in 1946, is dedicated to “engaging, educating and supporting the association’s diverse membership of businesses, airports, and general aviation industry stakeholders and to collectively, with a common voice, promote, protect, and advocate for general aviation in the State of Florida.” Eastern Aviation Fuels was founded in 1975 and is the exclusive distributor of Shell branded aviation fuels in the United States.
For more information: EasternAviationFuels.com or 800-334-5732
Just wondering if Buddy Stallings still owns/runs Eastern Aviation Fuels, Inc out of New Bern, NC? I ran across this article as I was looking up scholarship information for my son who will be attending Craven CC in the fall in mechanical engineering. I worked for Buddy as a computer programmer in 1988-89 and flew with Mike Allen to sites to do fuel tax updates.