The Logue Legacy

If you ask Richard (Dick) Logue (CE 66) who influenced him to attend South Dakota Mines, he would probably say it was his brother, John (EE 65). And if you ask John, he’d say his ability to attend was because of Dick.  

The two grew up in Wakonda, SD with five other siblings and attended a one-room school for grades one to eight. Even though John was younger, he was the first to start college.  

“I had never really liked school before Mines,” said Dick. “I wasn’t that focused. I liked the social part of school but not the studying part. Also, I didn’t really have the finances to go to college.”  

After high school he got a job with a construction company and ended up helping John with his school expenses.  

“He got me through my first year of college,” said John, who had no second thoughts about going to college right after high school for electrical engineering.  

“I’ve been interested in electricity since as long as I can remember,” he said. “When they wired our home in 1952, even then I was following the electrician around.”  

Meanwhile, the engineers and architects working with Dick noticed his talent.  

“It was obvious that the things we were doing seemed to come naturally for me, so they started asking me when I was going to go to college,” Dick said.  

He still had his suspicions about higher education, but he thought if he and John were there together, perhaps he could do it.   

“I probably wouldn’t have went if it weren’t for him,” said Dick. “It made it easier for me because I saw him doing it.” 

The two lived together during Dick’s first year, and the rest is history. Dick didn’t have a problem thriving in the social aspect of college. He even ended up as senior class president.  

After school, John started working in Minneapolis for Control Data Corporation in the early years of computers and then moved into consulting. Dick started off in sales with Trane in Denver, eventually moving to the Colorado Springs office.  

“People asked me why I wanted to go into sales, and I told them I wanted to make enough money to open my own business.”   

He made good on his goal and started a temperature control company, serving as a subcontractor for commercial buildings.   

Both thoroughly enjoyed their time at Mines, although they remember the financial challenges, both working and taking out whatever small loans they could.  

Dick recalls being grateful for a couple of small scholarships as well. That’s part of the reason the two decided to give back to Mines through an endowed scholarship in their family’s name.  

“We were very fortunate, and the School of Mines was good to us, so it makes sense to give back I think,” said Dick.  

John recognizes the need for young people starting college today to have financial support.  

“Even though it was difficult, it was easier to finance college back then,” said John.  

Being the first generation in their family to attend college, both Dick and John can see the payoff, not only for themselves, but for their families.  

“Education caught on in our family, and it started with John and me,” said Dick.  

Thanks to the Logue Family Scholarship, their support will now stretch beyond their family, helping Hardrockers for generations to come.  

“We always need engineers,” said Dick. “It’s important to keep training them well because the world keeps getting more and more technical. The students are what’s really important, so it makes sense to support them.”  

Interested in funding a scholarship in your name or in honor of a loved one? Endowed scholarships start at $30,000, and named scholarships start at $10,000. For more information, contact Leah Mahoney, Director of Planned Giving at Leah.Mahoney@sdsmt.edu or 605-394-6859