Neal Potter Path of Achievement Award
The Neal Potter Path of Achievement Award each year honors two county residents 60 years old or better whose accomplishments, enthusiasm, and lifelong commitment to volunteer service make them outstanding role models for those of all ages. The Path of Achievement Award was established by County Executive Doug Duncan in 1998. In 2009, County Executive Ike Leggett named the award to honor the extraordinary lifetime of achievement of former County Executive and County Councilmember Neal Potter. The award has been co-sponsored by the Montgomery County Commission on Aging and The Beacon Newspapers. The honorees are selected by a panel organized by the Commission on Aging.
About Neal Potter: Neal Potter was a model public citizen. Raised on a dairy farm near Cabin John and trained as an economist, Potter dedicated his life to serving others from both a global and local perspective. In the 1940s, he was present at the meeting that launched the World Federalist Association. In the 1950s and 1960s, he was active in a wide variety of civic activities in Montgomery County. He organized the Citizens’ Committee for Fair Taxation and served as president of the Citizens’ Planning Association. In five terms as a member of the Montgomery County Council (1970-1990 and 1994-98) and one term as our County Executive (1990-94), he focused on fiscal responsibility and sound land-use planning. Neal Potter began his distinguished quarter of a century of county government service at the age of 55. He died in 2008 at the age of 93. In 2009, County Executive Ike Leggett named the Path of Achievement Award to honor the memory of his extraordinary lifetime of achievement. “Neal was a mentor and a friend,” County Executive Leggett explained. “He was a model public servant who always exhibited the highest personal integrity.”
See Neal Potter's bio.
Our past winners of the Neal Potter Path of Achievement award:
2022
The Honorable Chung K. Pak
Charlotte Holliday
2021
Nancy Aldous
Delores Cole
2020
Robert Marques
Wolfgang Mergner
2019
Karen Bashir
Jacquette Frazier
2018
Chih-Hsiang Li
Sharyn R. Duffin
2017
Miriam Kelty
Marilyn Simonds
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2009
- Msgr. Ralph Kuehner, Advocacy
- Robert Mabie, Community Service
- Dorothy Nelson, Community Service
- Virginia “Ginny” Gilbert, Sports & Fitness
- Rev. Samuel Myers aka Jim Dandy, Workplace Contribution
2008
- John G. Miers, Advocacy
- Irene Spector, Arts & Humanities
- Ruth Emerson, Community Service
- John Lopes, Community Service
- Joann Woodson, Workplace Contribution
2007
- Karen Montgomery, Advocacy
- Eloise Strand, Community Service
- Sammie Young, Community Service
- Chester Kneller, Sports and Fitness
- Helen Abrahams, Workplace Contribution
2006
- Nguyen Minh Chau, Advocacy
- Marian Fox, Advocacy
- Theodore “Ted” Hannah, Community Service
- Mary “Flo” Hill, Community Service
- Marilyn D’Antuono, Workplace Contribution
2005
- Margaret McRory - Advocacy
- Lowell and Betty Tripp – Community Service
- Irene Booth Coleman – Community Service
- William H. Graham – Workplace Contribution
- Robert Silberg – Arts & Humanities
2004
- Rosalie Silverberg - Advocacy
- Austin Heyman - Advocacy
- Pearl Isenberg – Community Service
- Anne Elward – Community Service
- Kenneth Putkovich – Workplace Contribution
2003
- Ling Cheung - Advocacy
- Patricia Zannie – Arts & Humanities
- Betty Lichtenstein – Community Service
- Maryrose Rogolsky – Workplace Contribution
2002
- Doris Day – Arts & Humanities
- Helen Bowman – Community Service
- William Wellington – Sports & Fitness
- Francis Farrow – Workplace Contribution
- Horace Saunders - Advocacy
2001
- Martin Galvin – Arts & Humanities
- Loise Sullivan - Advocacy
- Helen McCarron – Community Service
- Adrienne Lees – Sports & Fitness
- Herman Meyersburg – Workplace Contribution
2000
- Donald Torr - Advocacy
- Lolo Sarnoff – Arts & Humanities
- Ellis Klioze – Community Service
- B. Eugene Neal – Sports & Fitness
- George Cohen – Workplace Contribution
1999
- John Harvil – Sports & Fitness
- Margaret Coleman – Arts & Humanities
- Richard Kelly – Community Service
- Kermit Mohn - Advocacy
- Nina Clarke – Workplace Contribution
1998
- William Tait – Sports & Fitness
- Vernetta Reynolds – Workplace Contribution
- Charles Pritchard – Community Service
- Donna Dorros – Advocacy
- Murray Stein – Arts & Humanities
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