Hoeptners - Air Force and Navy couple - named Dyess AFB Family of the Year
Though Easter has passed, you still could say one Dyess Air Force Base family hopped to the chance to serve both the base and the community.
On Saturday, at the 58th World's Largest Barbecue, the Hoeptner family was honored as the 2023 Military Family of the Year.
Capt. Colt and Petty Officer First Class Loresa Hoeptner were joined by their young children, Collette and Camilla, at the event to accept the award. They represent the 40th Airlift Squadron.
Surprised?
"Yes," said Loresa Hoeptner, holding their wiggly daughter Collette.
Colt Hoeptner took that up a step.
"Shocked," he said.
The couple had just sat down at their table when they were called up to be honored.
State Rep. Stan Lambert and representatives of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington presented flags and certificates.
Promoted to captain in 2022, he is a C-130 pilot and a member of the Commander Support Staff. He also is the Awards and Decorations officer. He and his wife have been at Dyess for two years.
An intelligence specialist in the Navy, Loresa recently advanced to Command Career Counselor and will be attending school for her new role. In 2022 she earned a bachelor's degree in business administration/accounting.
She was honored as Sailor of the Year in 2020.
Any service branch rivalry?
"He is jealous that I'm in the Navy," she said, laughing. "He wishes he was in the Navy."
But Colt Hoeptner briefly was in the Marine Corps.
"We pretty well have the service branches covered," he said.
She has gone into the reserves, she said, to keep her husband flying "and make the family life work."
They are from Eagle Point, Oregon, which is in the south-central area of the state. Of all things, they met at a barbecue, so love was in the aromatic air at the Abilene Convention Center.
They have been married for seven years.
One their projects has been to establish a scholarship program to honor Hunter Leland Hoeptner, her husband's brother who died in a motorcycle crash in 2017. He was 21.
"He was the shining star of our community," she said. The teenager was a state champion wrestler. "He was such a great and amazing person in our lives."
The scholarships will benefit students at Eagle Point High School.
They are part of the organization for the first wrestling tournament named for Hunter Hoeptner in January. T-shirts are being sold and there is a website where donations can be made, she said.
"That's the volunteer work we do outside of our family and the military," she said.
The Hoeptners have enjoyed going to the Abilene Zoo to feed the giraffes.
"We have exhausted the zoo," she said, smiling.
They live off base and have a pool, which makes family time at home more fun.
By the way, has he been named Airman of the Year?
"Not yet," Loresa Hoeptner said, diplomatically.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Hoeptners - Air Force and Navy couple - named Dyess AFB Family of the Year
