Donald Lee Logsdon, an ASCE life member whose project work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and later as an Iowa-based consultant left its marks across the Midwest, has died. ASCE was recently informed of his passing in April 2025 at 89.
Logsdon, P.E., F.ASCE, devoted his career to public infrastructure and structural engineering. After retiring from the corps, he continued to advise and assist clients on smaller projects throughout the Midwest well into his late 80s. One of the last of the paper generation of engineers, Logsdon kept his engineering licenses current and completed projects as late as the end of 2024.
Born in St. Patrick, Missouri, Logsdon was the ninth of 10 children and pursued engineering studies at St. Ambrose College and the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy. He earned a master’s degree in civil engineering and structures from the University of Iowa in 1969.
When he began carrying books home from school for Wanda Wheeler, Logsdon’s family watched a relationship bloom early. The two married Dec. 26, 1959, and raised five children in Davenport, Iowa. She survives him, as do four children, eight grandchildren, and a great-grandchild. A son predeceased him.
Logsdon was known as an outdoorsman who passed along his appreciation of nature to his children and friends over decades of hunting, fishing, and time spent outdoors. He was an active Roman Catholic.
