W. Donald "Don" Logan

W. Donald "Don" Logan, 93, of North Beaver Township, passed away peacefully on September 6, 2025 at Quality Life Services, New Castle, PA.

Born October 26, 1931, in New Castle, he was the son of William Cecil and Lillian V. (Shaffer) Logan.

He is survived by his wife of 74 years, Doris J. (Allen) Logan, who was his high school sweetheart. In addition to his wife, Don is survived by his daughter Janet (Dennis) Kuykendall of Benezette; his son William S. Logan of New Wilmington; granddaughters Jaime (Shawn) Jackson of Garrettsville, OH; Lisa Lee of New Castle; Carly (Andrei) Negrila of Hillsboro, OR; and grandson W. Stephen (Heather) Logan of Harmony. He is also survived by six great-grandchildren.

Don was, in fact, actually a human Google search engine before computers came into the public schools. There wasn't an article or a reference that he couldn't find. His vertical file was the best in the county, and many a student saved hours of research by grabbing a fat vertical file folder and poring over the articles it contained. Don's love of clipping articles carried over into his personal life, too. He often clipped and dated articles of personal interest, attached post-it notes, and mailed them to family members.

After his graduation from Mt. Jackson High School, he worked for Rockwell International for 11 years before deciding to make a career change. He attended Slippery Rock College, graduating with a bachelor's degree in education. He majored in Library Science and Elementary Education. He earned a master's degree in Library Science from the University of Pittsburgh in 1964. Don was hired as the librarian at Union High School and remined there until his retirement 29 years later. Nothing made him happier than running into former students who recognized him and took the time to share memories of their time in his library.

After retirement, Don and Doris RV'd through much of the U.S. and Canada. On their many travels, Don took exceptional photos, which they developed into a slide show. This became entertainment for many church and grange groups in the area.

They wintered in Florida, where they worked seasonally at Disney World for 13 years. Although home base was Wide World of Sports, they worked in all the Disney parks. Don loved to tell stories about working at Disney to anyone who would listen.

Don belonged to the Masonic Lodge, where he held memberships in Lodge of the Craft Westminster No. 433, Lawrence Caravan No. 15, Scottish Rite, and Syria Shriners.

He served as president of the Syria Temple Oriental Band as well as being the band's treasurer for many years. Don proudly dressed in oriental garb and make-up and marched in countless parades with the Oriental Band. He enjoyed putting on his curly-toed shoes and playing the cymbals. The Oriental Band was a colorful crowd-pleaser as they raised money for the Shriners Hospitals.

Don was an active member of Moravia Presbyterian Church, serving as a Sunday School teacher, a trustee, and an elder. He and his wife were members of the Castle Paws and Taws Square Dance Club and the Rock Point Boat Club. His infectious enthusiasm for boating got at least a half-dozen friends to buy boats and join the club. Also, he taught dozens of people how to water ski. One of his favorite activities at the boat club was to tow skiers around and around in circles until they went flying through the air and made crash/splash landings.

Don enjoyed taking family and friends fishing in the Delaware Bay. One of his scariest experiences involved being far from land with two family members in the boat. It was foggy and still, and suddenly a huge creature popped straight up out of the water a few feet from the boat. Everyone gasped and looked. It popped straight up again and sank quietly back into the water. No one knew what it was, but they agreed it was a good idea to get out of there – as quickly as possible. Sometime later, Don saw a picture of the creature in a National Geographic. It was a pilot whale!

An avid gardener, Don had a huge garden. Any friends and family who stopped to visit were treated to all the vegetables they wanted. Don donated produce to the City Rescue Mission as well. He also enjoyed growing giant pumpkins and was a member of the Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers. One year, he won third place in the largest squash category (it was a giant!), so descendants of his prize winner are still going strong with the seeds he donated

He was preceded in death by his parents.

The family would like to thank the Three Rivers Hospice staff for their kind and loving care.

A private service will be held for immediate family members.