By Kevin Broom, Vice President, Marketing & Communications

During its annual Natural Gas Symposium in Tulsa, Okla., July 31, the GPA Midstream Midcontinent Chapter presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to Chris Lindenberg, owner and president of GPSA member company Western Filter Co., Inc.  

Lindenberg has been part of the energy industry for more than 50 years, getting his professional start as a wage labor employee at refineries and tank farms in 1974. His true beginning was even earlier. He visited his first gas processing plant at the age of eight years old with his dad (Ed), who was a Warren Petroleum manager at Maysville, Okla. That plant is still operated today by ONEOK.

GPA and GPSA involvement runs in the family. In 1981, Ed Lindenberg, who was working in Caracas, Venezuela at the time, became the first and only person to serve as GPA president while outside the United States. Ed had previously helped build and operate the first gas processing plant in Kuwait in 1967. Chris and the family also lived in Kuwait, and Chris graduated from the International School of Kuwait in 1969.

Upon returning to the U.S., Chris graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1973 and entered the energy industry. After gaining field experience, Lindenberg returned to Tulsa and joined the gas processing midstream industry. He acquired Western Filter in 1984 and went on to serve gas processing plants with the high-quality products companies need to keep operations running smoothly.

He was elected to the national GPSA Board of Directors and has served the association for 17 years in all officer capacities, including president in 2012. He's part of the GPSA Executive & Finance Committee, Membership Committee, and serves as chapter liaison to the GPSA board. He also has a legacy of involvement in association strategic planning, scholarship programs, and support of Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology.

Lindenberg has been deeply involved in GPA chapter functions, where he has met many great colleagues who share his interest in gas processing and field operations. He became a member of the Midcontinent Chapter in 1978 and attended 32 consecutive annual meetings. He has served on an array of committees and has held every officer position in the Midcontinent Chapter. He currently serves on the Midcontinent Chapter Board of Directors.

His role with GPA Midstream chapters has only grown through the years. He has attended all regional chapter annual meetings at least once, including those years when there were as many as nine chapters. He was a regular visitor in gas processing plants that in 12 states and learned that every plant has different needs. He's currently the chapter liaison to the GPSA Board of Directors.

He's perhaps GPSA's best-ever member recruiter and association ambassador. He often shares the value of GPA Midstream and GPSA with industry peers and colleagues, and never hesitates to encourage new connections to join.

In 2018, GPA Midstream honored Lindenberg with the association's Citation for Service Award. It's an honor he shares with his father, who who received it in 1982. They are the only father/son duo to have served as GPA/GPSA presidents — Chris at GPSA, his father Ed at GPA.

Over the years, Chris has been an effective and prolific member-recruitment ambassador. Whether in the office or on the road, he’s always encouraging new connections to join and get involved with the work of shaping the future of midstream.