Great Rivers Environmental Law Center mourns the loss of Joseph (“Joe”) P. Logan, who died Wednesday, September 4, 2019 at the age of 98. In 2008, Great Rivers presented Joe with Great Rivers’ first and only “Distinguished Service Award” for Joe’s unwavering support of Great Rivers.
Joe was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1921. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1942. He served in the Navy during World War II, as gunnery officer aboard the USS Hambleton DD 455 destroyer, and took part in the D-day landing at Normandy on June 6, 1944. After the war, he attended Harvard Law School and received his JD in 1948. He and his wife, Yvonne, were married in 1943 and lived in Webster Groves from 1951 until a few years ago, that is, when they were not up at Lake Michigan, sailing and swimming.
Joe joined the law offices of Thompson Coburn in 1948, where he worked until recently doing probate and estate planning. He was an active in volunteer work for the Ranken Jordan Home for Convalescent Crippled Children and the First Congregational Church of Webster Groves for more than four decades. In addition, he served on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union for many years.
Joe has spent decades working for environmental groups. He was one of the earliest leaders of the Open Space Council, founded in 1965, the Open Space Foundation, founded in 1967, and of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, founded in 1969, and he assisted them well into the 1990’s. He showed his appreciation for the environment by going on countless float trips on Missouri streams with the Dreys, Buders and Greens. After a hard night on the gravel bars, this group started its mornings with a “Shannon County” juice, a mixture of gin and orange juice.
When Lewis Green was planning the Great Rivers Environmental Law Center during the years of 1998 to 2002, he often consulted Joe. After Lewis’ death in 2003, Joe continued to provide support to the Law Center. He organized the Tribute Dinner to Lewis Green in 2004 and served as Honorary Chairman of the Annual Dinner of Great Rivers in 2006 and 2007. Great Rivers is fortunate to have had Joe’s wisdom and support throughout the law center’s first six years.”
For all of our years, Joe continued his unwavering support of Great Rivers, attending our events and enthusiastically embracing our work. Joe was a dear friend and we will miss him.