GPA Midstream and GPSA mourn the loss of Mark Sutton, who passed away surrounded by family following a sudden, unexpected health issue and brief hospital stay. Sutton, 68, retired from GPA Midstream and GPSA in 2019 after 37 years with the organizations, including 27 years as the top executive.

After earning an engineering degree from Oklahoma State University in 1980, Sutton began his career in the natural gas industry with the Mid American Pipeline Co. He became Director of Technical Services of Gas Processors Association (GPA) in 1982 and was promoted to President and CEO in 1992. He remained in that role until his retirement.

Sutton guided GPA as it evolved with the industry. In his early days with the association, gas processing was typically handled by a department within major oil companies like Exxon, Shell, Mobil, and Texaco, or other integrated energy companies such as Cities Service, Warren Petroleum, or Phillips 66.

In the 1980s and 1990s, a belief that the U.S. was running out of oil and gas reserves led many of these companies to sell gas processing operations to midstream-only companies and focus on international activities. Sutton made sure GPA remained relevant to a transforming industry with a focus on high-value research, effective management of costs and revenues, and activating a broad professional network to make sure the association had the expertise it needed from across the industry.

“Mark recognized that our volunteers were the backbone of the organizations,” said Gene Thomas, past-President of GPA, and retired research manager at ExxonMobil. “He made volunteers feel important and encouraged the board to find ways to add volunteers with changing companies and aging demographics. Many of the volunteers stayed active for decades, due in large part to the environment Mark created.”

Industry friends and colleagues said Sutton had an infectious love for GPA and the industry it serves.

“Mark was the face — some would say ‘poster child’ — of the GPA, and he was its backbone for so many years,” said Bill Ward, President and CEO, Superior Midstream. “He was always willing to volunteer me for committees or responsibilities, which in the long run prepared me to be the association’s Chair. Mark had his finger on the pulse of our industry and was instrumental in the evolution of what the association is now.”

With trademark humor, a strong vision of the future of midstream, and an ability to forge consensus among divergent opinions and big personalities, Sutton led GPA through major challenges and built a resilient organization focused on technical expertise, research, advocacy, and world-class events.

Born in Shreveport, La., Sutton moved with his family to Oklahoma when he was six. He developed a life-long love of outdoors activities such as biking, golfing, fishing, boating, and motorcycles. He enrolled at Oklahoma State University as a biology student to pursue aspirations of working for legendary French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. Encouraged by his engineer father, and because of job market demand and salaries, Sutton earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He considered the switch to engineering among the best decisions he ever made.

Sutton told friends that another of his “best decisions” was marrying his wife, Patty, in 1986. Through 39 years of marriage, the couple shared adventures, pursued success in their respective careers, and cherished family time with children and grandchildren.

Sutton was as passionate a supporter of his alma mater, OSU. In 2020, he was inducted into the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology Hall of Fame, and received the Melvin R. Lohmann Medal, an OSU distinction honoring alumni for contributions to the profession or education of engineers.

In 2021, GPA Midstream presented Sutton with the Hanlon Award, the midstream’s highest individual honor bestowed for career activities that advanced the industry.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Sutton's honor to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Sutton’s passing inspired an outpouring of memories and comments from long-time industry colleagues and friends. Some of those are below:

Carlos Conerly, Vice President Business Development, ISTI Plant Services

Mark was so helpful in getting me acquainted with some of the best in our midstream industry throughout my career. I have many fond memories of Mark. He would always make me laugh and never take things too seriously. Mark always had a good perspective regarding our midstream industry and with his leadership we always felt welcome whether we were a GPA or GPSA company. Mark left an amazing legacy with the GPA and GPSA organizations and was a key contributor to the success of our organizations that we enjoy today.

Gary Dollahon, Owner, Dollahon PR

It was such an honor to get to know Mark during Dollahon PR’s role as the association’s marketing agency. In my mind, he was the perfect multi-tool for service to the group’s trade focus and diverse membership. He was serious about his job and had such great leadership traits, but my favorite was simply how much he “cared.”

Mark’s strive was always for the best possible outcome whatever the challenge, and the industry provided many during his decades of leadership. Undoubtedly, the fact he led the two associations for more than a third of their respective 100-year-old histories will forever be part of his legacy.

When Crystal (Dollahon Myers) and I began work with the group, it didn’t take us long to discover Mark’s fun side. Crystal and Mark shared allegiance to Oklahoma State, and Mark and I both loved to fish. At one of the first conventions to Dollahon PR attended, word came at the twelfth hour that the booked entertainer — ventriloquist Jeff Dunham — had canceled because of a last-minute opportunity for a national television appearance. Staff panicked.

Crystal and I suggested we stage a GPA-based ventriloquist act to poke fun at what happened. We just needed a “big guy and little guy” for the parts. Johnny Dreyer suggested members Steve Munden and Sam Johnson as the perfect duo. But we first had to convince Mark. The three of us took him the idea. He laughed, then asked for more details. Hearing us out, he said if you can convince Steve and Sam to do it, go for it. We opened the event with Sam in a plaid shirt sitting alongside Steve and engaging in a ventriloquist-like dialogue. It got laughs.

As we continued to work together, Mark was a willing participant in spoofs. For a “Top Reasons to Attend Convention" video, he donned his motorcycle leathers and helmet and rode his granddaughter’s tricycle out of his office for its ending. And for a “Convention Crazies” video, he sat in a sleeping bag on his office floor, surrounded by empty snack bags and soda cans, while cackling at cartoons on TV.

Mark was smart, dedicated, and fun. I’ll greatly miss him for many reasons!

Karl Gerdes, retired from Chevron

I had the pleasure of working with Mark for many decades while serving on the Research Committee. He always kept an even keel while refereeing the relationship between the committee — which always wanted to spend more now — and the board, which advocated prudence and bang-for-the-buck.

He was instrumental in engaging PERC to co-fund research based on the premise that lower cost and higher quality products helped both processors and retail sellers.

Mark was a master at herding cats. The Research Committee was made up of volunteers from companies with widely divergent viewpoints (as was the Board), and he somehow helped build and maintain a balanced, high-value research program through all the ups and downs in the industry. Mark and the GPA staff he led created a culture that induced volunteers to not only put in the time but to agitate to stay on the committee when they changed employers. Mark was special.

Dan McCartney, Owner, McCartney Gas Advisors, retired from Black & Veatch

One of the things that stands out was his steadfast support for the association research effort. At least twice he included me in efforts to redesign the research funding mechanism. He sought to provide more flexibility to the research committees while still satisfying the need to control budgets. This was especially important as the industry shifted from major, integrated companies with their own research organizations to midstream companies with no internal research entity.

Joel Moxley, retired President & CEO, GPA Midstream and GPSA, former Chair, GPA Midstream

Mark was a great guy — you had to be to work for 37 years at the same place and manage all the egos that crossed his path. He loved both GPA Midstream and GPSA and saw the midstream industry change significantly over his career. As the U.S. energy industry moved more overseas because we thought we were running out of reserves in the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Mark had to navigate these changes and adjust the work of the associations to fit new kinds of members.

Gene Thomas, past-President of GPA, and retired research manager at ExxonMobil

I’ve known Mark since 1986 when I joined the GPA Research Committee. As I became increasingly engaged, I learned to appreciate his strengths in managing the organization. As a member of the Research Committee, I saw that we got incredibly high returns of investment. This was due to the combination of low project costs and a superabundance of high quality volunteers who stewarded the projects. Mark was excellent at the gentle nudging of volunteers to keep things on track.

Mark had a firm understanding of the business side of running an association. He knew the costs and revenue streams and could forecast them for future years with reasonable accuracy. He worked hard to keep convention costs down. He kept a good financial reserve to weather tough times. He also reinforced guidelines to ensure the association kept out of potential troubles with antitrust and conflict of interests. He would make sure that we had ways to fund changes that incurred significant new costs.

Mark had a huge network and tapped into it to ensure the associations ran smoothly and had funding for projects. He understood the board members quite well and was attuned to what it would take to advance new initiatives, as well as to which initiatives were not worth pursuing given his current sense of the board. He handled the occasional tense moment with tact and a disarming sense of humor.

He displayed a confidence that the associations would continue to thrive through good times and bad. When times were tough he'd highlight how we'd manage costs. I cherished my time with Mark. We weathered and accomplished a lot together.