Richard "Dick" Gordon Logan

Richard (Dick) Gordon Logan, 93 of Lawrence, Kansas passed away on May 24, 2026, at his home. 

Dick was born on September 15, 1932, in Quenemo, Kansas to John Lysle Logan and Esther Maurine (Price) Logan. 

Dick married Ruth Marie Beard on May 29, 1953, in Lawrence, Kansas at Danforth Chapel on the KU Campus.

Dick was born at home and grew up in the small town of Quenemo, Kansas, to a railroad section hand worker during the Great Depression and WWII as the second child of five brothers and one sister. 

Dick's parents believed in working hard and being responsible. During Dick's childhood the boys often had to hunt in the winters around Quenemo to secure meat for the family as there was no unemployment assistance and his father was regularly laid off during the winter months. They lived in a modest house with an outhouse for a bathroom. During the Depression and war years these were hard times, yet Dick and his family felt the family bond and love, they got by with what they had and learned you do not need much besides the basics to be happy.

Dick's young life would seem very difficult in today's world but his family was strong, very intelligent and independent, instilling the values that hard physical work makes you strong and independent. He taught and expected this same work ethic and values in his own family later in life - Dick and all of his brothers learned those lessons working as railroad track maintenance laborers in the summers starting at age 14. Dick worked every summer through college as a track laborer on the railroad. 

Growing up the way Dick did made him humble and respectful toward the people he met. He never judged anybody and thought all people are truly equal no matter their perceived position in life and he always wanted to know all about their life. 

For the most part Dick lived the classical American Dream from poor kid to successful middle class. Growing up in the 1930s and 1940s the main entertainment was going to the cinema and that is what Dick did with the money he earned those summers on the railroad. He saw all the old movies of the time and those movies were generally optimistic and full of promise; they showed Dick that there was more out there and he wanted to be a part of that.

Dick was an exceptional basketball player in high school holding school records for points in a game. In one such game even though Quenemo High lost to Williamsburg High by a lot according to Dick, the principal invited the Quenemo team to the Williamsburg dance later that evening. Little did Dick know that night would change the trajectory of his life, he met Ruth his future wife. She was a freshman and Dick a senior. 

At the same time Dick was being the star on his high school basketball team his older brother Jim was trailblazing for his younger brothers at the University of Kansas. Jim, after a year in the Army obtained the GI bill to pay for his college so he went to KU and actually ended up a Rhodes Scholar and much more academically. Jim convinced Dick, he should follow him to Kansas University, but Dick was reluctant due to Ruth still being in high school back home. 

After Dick graduated high school he did follow brother Jim, as did all of his younger brothers, and went to KU. He was also good enough to play on the Kansas University freshman basketball team for the 1950/1951 season. Dick also made the trips almost every weekend back home to Quenemo and over to Williamsburg to visit Ruth, often, he hitchhiked to get home since he had no car for the weekend. 

From watching all those WWII movies growing up Dick also decided he wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force, so he joined KU's ROTC program. He also wanted to marry Ruth at this time and did so when she graduated high school in 1953 and they set up house for Dick's senior year in Lawrence. Dick graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1954, and he was subsequently commissioned a First Lieutenant and a pilot in the United States Air Force.

Dick and Ruth traveled a bit to different Air Force bases for 3 years, including in Missouri where daughter Julie was born and in Mississippi where son Rick was born. One thing about Dick: he respected everybody, but he did not like taking orders blindly which the military requires, so Dick left the Air Force in 1957 and moved back to Kansas. 

Once back in Kansas Dick worked briefly for the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant and then the Callery Chemical Company, then finally for the FMC Corporation in Lawrence where he retired and raised a family. 

Dick worked as Distribution Manager for the FMC Corporation until his retirement in 1991. He retired early at the age of 59 due to his recent diagnosis and operation for prostate cancer - he said at the time I may not be around long so I am going to retire early and yet he lived another 32 years... 

Dick's passion was golf, he somehow inexplicable to most people left work at FMC at around 1 pm most afternoons to go play golf at Alvamar during the week and he and his buddies held/reserved the earliest tee time on Saturday and Sunday mornings while the weather allowed - he played golf most every day until he couldn't, he walked the holes until he was 70 then rode a cart and played till he was 85. 

Dick was an exceptional manager at FMC and refused many many promotion offers at FMC that would have required relocating his family from Lawrence, he turned every one of them down so that his kids could grow up in a stable environment in Lawrence Kansas - Dick often stated the reason he lived so long was because he did not take the promotion offers and therefore did not have the added stress in his life... 

Survivors include his daughter Julie (Tom) Albers, two sons Rick Logan and Lance (Laurey) Logan and 8 grandkids: Jacob (Andie) Albers, Jonathan Albers, Marc (Hailey) Albers, Jennifer Logan (Mike SanRomani), Jeremy Logan, Andrew (Kristina) Logan, Krista Logan, Chase (Jerica) Logan; 11 great-grandkids: Alba Albers, Atticus Albers, Brayden Albers, Brinley Albers, Blaire Albers, Aspen SanRomani, Luna Logan, Myla Delatorre, Natalia Logan, Lorenzo Logan. Brother Max Logan and sister and brother-in-law Bev Logan and Tom Chalmers. Preceding Richard are his parents and wife Ruth, three brothers and one sister: Jim (Bev) Logan, John (Pat) Logan, Bill (Judy) Logan, Linda (Tom) Chalmers.

 A Graveside Service will take place on Friday June 12, 2026, at Oak Hill Cemetery in Quenemo, Kansas at 11 am.