Remembering Pen Legends

Our community recently lost three stalwarts: a Sheaffer maven, an Italian pen expert, and a masterful vintage pen restorer.

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Dan Reppert passed away peacefully at his home in Fort Madison, Iowa, with family by his side, on April 12. He was 83 years old. The only child of Robert A. Reppert and Evva Maude Reppert, Dan grew up in Iowa and graduated from Iowa Wesleyan College with a degree in history. Dan put that degree to good use in the pen community. He was one of the foremost experts in Sheaffer writing instruments.

Reppert taught high school speech and drama in Burlington, Iowa, and Southern California. He returned to Fort Madison as an employee of Sheaffer Pen Co. He is best known for designing the Sheaffer Connaisseur: a design that combined the affordable Sheaffer No Nonsense with elements from the history of Sheaffer design. The Connaisseur entered production in 1986 and was produced for ten years. Today, it is a highly sought modern vintage due to its styling, which resembles classic Sheaffer Flat-Tops but with modern, cartridge/converter-filling capacity. From left—Dan Reppert and his beloved wife Cyndie at The Ohio Pen Show in 2023; at the Chicago Pen Show in May 2025, a special table was erected to commemorate Dan's legacy.