Engineering Professor Dies

LeFevre Served On Planning Commission

By Steve Caraway

Posted: November 24, 2009 at 4:34 a.m.

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SPRINGDALE — Friends and colleagues remember Walter LeFevre as a kind-hearted gentleman who guided engineering students for 45 years.

LeFevre, 77, died Monday at Northwest Medical Center-Springdale. LeFevre taught engineering at the University of Arkansas and served as a member of the Springdale Planning Commission.

“He was a wonderful person,” said Javene Mounce, administrative assistant in the Civil Engineering Department. Mounce worked with LeFevre for 20 years. “He would do everything he could for students, faculty and staff.”

Fadil Bayyari sat next to LeFevre as planning commissioner since both joined in 2001.

“He brought a lot of talent and experience to the commission,” Bayyari said. “He was a great man with a lot of compassion.”

LeFevre served as head of the Civil Engineering Department from 1971 to 1982 and dean of the College of Engineering from 1982 to 1983, according to the department.

LeFevre taught almost everything during his 45 years as a professor, said Kevin Hall, department head, but is remembered for trying to instill professionalism in all his students. LeFevre taught Hall during Hall’s undergraduate days.

“He was the voice of professionalism and ethics in the department,” Hall said. “He wanted you to present yourself as a professional.”

Brian Moore, a partner at Engineering Services Inc. along with LeFevre, remembered walking into LeFevre’s required class, always given at 7:30 a.m.

“He wasn’t happy to see me coming in at 7:38 a.m., wearing a ball cap,” Moore said.

Baseball caps were not professional, Mounce said, and were banned from his classes.

LeFevre served as president of the National Society of Professional Engineers and wrote exam questions for the national engineering licensing exam, Moore said.

“He signed my engineering license,” he said.

LeFevre separated his professional life from his public service by refusing to vote on items where ESI represented someone before the commission.

“The first time he recused, nobody else knew what it meant,” Moore said. “He introduced the term to the commission.”

LeFevre was born July 29, 1932, in Eden, Texas, to E.W. Sr. and Hazie D. LeFevre. He graduated from Eden High School and held bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Texas A&M University and a doctorate in civil engineering from Oklahoma State University.

He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War as a first lieutenant in field artillery. He is survived by his wife Joyce; two daughters and two sons.

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