Walter LeFevre

Dr. E. Walter LeFevre, 77, of Springdale, died Monday, November 23, 2009 at Northwest Arkansas Medical Center. He was born July 29, 1932, in Eden, Texas to E.W.Sr. and Hazie D. LeFevre. Dr. LeFevre graduated from Eden High School in Eden, Texas. He earned a Bachelors and Masters of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University and his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Oklahoma State University. He served in the U.S. Army as a First Lieutenant in Field Artillery during the Korean Conflict. Walt LeFevre set the standard for all engineers to emulate in his lifelong service to the engineering profession. He was the Past National President of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), Past National Vice President of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), former Dean and Civil Engineering Department Head as well as a faculty member for more than forty years at the University of Arkansas, member of the National Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), a delegate to the World Federation of Engineering Organizations and U.S. member of many other delegations to various foreign countries. Additionally he is a member of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), and is a Past President of the Arkansas State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. He has presented engineering papers worldwide and been a consultant to a number of countries. He also found time to serve his community as a Past President of Rotary, Past District Chairman of the Boy Scouts of America and many other organizations. He has been recognized as a Distinguished Member, their most prestigious award, of ASCE for his lifetime of hard work for the engineering profession. Walt also served for more than 35 years as Senior Vice President of ESI, an engineering firm, in Springdale. In 1981, Walt founded the Arkansas Academy of Civil Engineering (AACE) which has provided hundreds of scholarships for Civil Engineering students and support to the department. Through this example, other engineering departments within the College of Engineering have followed the formation of engineering academies. In 1992, Walt, with the assistance of Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt, established the Mack Blackwell National Rural Transportation Study Center (MBTC) and served as its Director for several years. MBTC, which is still going strong, has completed over 150 studies on transportation issues benefitting rural America. As a professor for over forty-five years, he molded the lives of thousands of superb practicing engineers. He is held in the highest esteem by all who have benefited from his professorship. Walt LeFevre is regarded by the national engineering community as the backbone of engineering ethics. He helped produce two films and ethics courses which are used nationally by businesses as well as universities. Additionally he wrote over 200 refereed publications for the engineering industry. His national awards are too numerous to mention, but include Distinguished Service Awards from the American Society of Engineering Education, ASCE, NSPE, NCEES, AAES, Boy Scouts of America and a number of other engineering societies. He was recognized for his service at the University of Arkansas in 1971 by its highest distinction, "University Professor". Among all of his accomplishments he was also a kind, gentle-hearted, compassionate gentleman, a very dear friend and will be missed very much by his colleagues and friends. The engineering profession has lost a great leader who has given his entire life to the advancement of the profession. Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Joyce LeFevre; 2 daughters, Terry Watson and her husband, Tom, of Denver, Colorado, Charmaine Stuteville and her husband, Eric of Durant, Oklahoma, 2 sons, George LeFevre and his wife Young Soon of Clarksville, Tennessee and John LeFevre and his wife, Angie, of Houston, Texas; nine grandchildren and spouses: Sarah and Mike Hayward, John and Kara Watson, Michelle Pierce, Robert and Tiffany Pierce, Jackson Stuteville, Amanda LeFevre, Chris LeFevre, Austin LeFevre and Zach LeFevre; and one great-grandson, Will Hayward. The Memorial Service will be Friday, November 27, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. at First United Methodist Church in Springdale with the Rev. Judy VanHoose officiating. Visitation will be Wednesday, November 25, 2009 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Sisco Funeral Chapel in Springdale. Honorary pallbearers will be the University of Arkansas Civil Engineering Department, the Rotary Club of Springdale and the Springdale Planning Commission. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Arkansas Academy of Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund, American Diabetes Association, First United Methodist Church of Springdale, 206 W. Johnson Ave., Springdale, Arkansas72764 or any library.