Staff

Paul and Jen Illingworth are the DZO's of Skydive San Marcos. Paul started jumping in the UK in the mid 70's and still likes to do the odd "round" jump, although his favorite discipline is freefly. Jen started jumping in Australia a while back and now likes freefly and do 4 way as part of the DZ's resident 4 way team "4 - Fun". Paul and Jen both hold USPA Instructor ratings and are also licensed pilots.

Ryan 'Lawrence' Lohrer is the DZ's Manager, he is also a UPSA Coach, Tandem Master and Freefall Videographer. Apart from his regular skydiving duties, Ryan keeps the plane flying and makes sure all the other "cogs" keep turning smoothly.

Eric Butts AKA BarbEric is the DZ's Chief Instructor and USPA Safety & Training Advisor. He has more than 7000 skydives and is a USPA Tandem Course Instructor / Examnier, Tandem Master, AFF Instructor and Senior Rigger as well as a canopy test pilot. If you want to know anything about canopy flying Eric is your man !!!

Adam Marsh is a USPA AFF Instructor, Tandem Master and Master Rigger with more than 3500 jumps. When not instructing, Adam likes to "fix things" and also to experiment with a variety of different canopies of all shapes and sizes and has been known to jump with what can only be described as a large bedsheet stuffed in a bag.

Dave Heinrich has been jumping for 8 years and has more than 2,500 skydives under his belt. He is a USPA AFF and Tandem Instructor. A practicing dentist in Fredericksburg Texas for more than 20 years, Dave spends the first 4-days of the week working in the tight constraints of dentistry, then enjoys the great release to work and play in the wide open spaces of the big blue sky.

Dave Johnson AKA Super Dave - is the DZ's resident wildlife expert. A specialist in snakes, spiders and all other things that like to live in trees and long grass, when he's not on a nature trail, he's in the air filming as a Videographer. "Super" Dave says he stopped counting at 5000 jumps which is good enough by any standards.

Donna Lee has been skydiving for more than four years and has a USPA Coach Rating. In the 'real world' she is a public affairs officer for a state agency. She loves being airborne (RW, CReW, Sit-Flying), was formerly a licensed private pilot and also a National Weather Service Certified FAA weather observer. She enjoys working with students who have just graduated AFF and helping them improve their skills. "Attitude is Everything".

Eddie Burgos - is the the DZ's Chief Pilot. A commercial pilot with single engine, multi-engine and instrument ratings, Eddie has almost 3000 hours flying time. Eddie says he always wanted to be a pilot, even as he was growing up in Puerto Rico, where he used to run around chasing his friends with arms extended making Brrrrrrrrrrrr sounds. He says he now prefers listening to the Brrrrrrrrrr sounds the DZ's Twin Otter "Old-Maid" makes as he manipulates her controls.

Ford Strawn is the DZ's chief Tandem Packer who says he's never got enough rigs to pack (but we like to keep testing him). Not much is known about the mysterious Ford, except that he likes Football and rumor has it that he also has a specvial place in his heart for Heather.

Hank Prewitt is a USPA Tandem Master and Coach with over 1200 jumps. Hank is also one of the DZ's tandem packers and if that doesnt keep him busy enough, he also jumps just for the fun of it as an avid freeflyer.

Heather Kidd is one of the DZ's front office "Manifesters", and if that smile isn't a good enough reason to visit manifest regularly then what is !

Jeff McVey came to Skydive San Marcos from Southern California as an experienced USPA Tandem/AFF Instructor & holds a PRO rating. Jeff has been skydiving since 1973 & has 7000+ jumps. He was a participant in the 2002 World Record 300 person formation. When not skydiving, Jeff teaches Chemistry at Texas State University.

Josh Zammit is a USPA Coach and Tandem Master who enjoys the freedom of jumping with new faces! On the weekdays he is a youth minister, on the weekends (except Sundays of course) he spends as much time at the dropzone as possible. His favorite skydiving discipline is freeflying. Josh loves skydiving, and firmly believes his life is better because of it!

Kevin Hawkins is a USPA Coach, with more than 700 skydives. Kevin began skydiving at San Marcos in 2000 and also has a day job as a University administrator in San Antonio. While Kevin may be 20 years older than his freefly partner Josh, he doesn't look a day over 35 (so he says).

Perry Perkins is a USPA AFF Instructor, a Skydive University Coach and Freefall Videographer with more than 6500 skydives to his credit. He says he started jumping more years ago than he cares to remember but still gets a buzz from every jump, especially when he's swooping in to land on his handkerchief sized canopy.

Ray & JL Cordova - Ray has been in the sport for 15 yrs and has over 1700 jumps. He is a USPA AFF and Tandem Instructor. JL is a USPA Coach who has been jumping for 5 years and has more than 300 jumps, she's also the DZ's unofficial masseuse. Outside skydiving Ray and JL are both Firefighter / Paramedics in Corpus Christi who enjoy riding motorcycles and taking their 4 legged kids on road trips.

Theresa Davignon AKA "T," has been jumping for six years and is one of only a handful of female Tandem Masters in the country, but she "manhandles" right along with the guys. Approaching 1300 jumps, she can be seen doing Tandems, Coaching Students, or the occasional doing a freefly jump with her fianc�, Eric. When not jumping, she's likely got her nose in a book or is scaring the guys away at the poker tables.

Todd Fey - has been the Freefly Coach at Skydive San Marcos since the spring of 2007. He has 7 years of freefly experience and well over 4000 jumps (3000+ Freefly, 1000 RW, 500 AFF). Todd is an ex-military graduate student at Texas State.

Yoshi Ishihara holds USPA AFF and Tandem Instructor Ratings and is also one of the DZ's Videographers. With more than 11,300 jumps under his belt, he must be doing soemthing right !!! When not jumping, Yoshi earns his living as one of Austins top Sushi chefs.