Don passed away peacefully on 21st June 2024 at Bendigo Hospital.
He will be greatly missed by his wife Heather, children Pam, Robyn, Peter, Deryn and their partners,
his grandchildren Tim, Dom, Declan, David and their partners,
and great grandchildren Molly and Dottie.
A dedicated servant of God.
A Service of Thanksgiving for Don's life will be held in the Uniting Church, Lyttleton Street, Castlemaine
on Friday 19th July at 2.00pm.
If you wish to join us at the service via livestream
please return to the home page of this website and click on the livestream button.
The service will be live approximately 5 -10 minutes prior to commencing.
As a tribute to Don, please consider a donation to Oxfam via the following link
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Barbara and I extend our deep condolences to Heather and to Don’s family.
I remember with great fondness my time working closely with Don in the same structural engineering team at CSIRO for many years.
This included many wonderful discussions on all sorts of topics around the morning tea table, as well as memorable social outings and dinners with Don and Heather and others in the Lam Pham team.
Don was in addition a great raconteur.
With warm memories and deepest sympathy, Peter Boxhall.
Dear Heather and family,
We were so sorry to hear that Don has died.
We remember fondly of your and Don’s association with the Box Hill Art Group over many years.
Don was a great supporter of our group accompanying you and assisting with our many exhibitions.
We are thinking of you at this sad time. Take care.
Ray Jones
Box Hill Art Group
Don’s life was one of dedication and sacrifice.
He gave up what could have been a glittering academic career to devote his life to overseas students and overseas development.
What a legacy he has left in the lives of thousands of overseas students.
We give great tribute to Don.
A live well lived for others.
Don Stewart
Don was exceptionally active in helping developing countries in South-East Asia.
His Appropriate Technology Program at Melbourne University helped many Asian professionals to receive training in their chosen fields.
He was my mentor, guiding my research in metal structures in the 1970’s.
We visited Hanoi University of Civil Engineering and HCM Polytechnics in early 1980’s that formed the basis of our educational relationship with Vietnam. After returning from Papua New Guinea, we created a network of structural engineers from Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies to align the general design requirements and loading specifications for wind and earthquake (1996-2002).
A life well lived, and we will miss you very much.
Lam Pham
May this serve as a living tribute to Don Mansell.
My wife Elvira and I join in extending our deepest condolences to Heather and family.
I was fortunate enough to join the University of Melbourne in the late 80’s with the then Development Technologies Unit.
Our focus was education and research into international development. Don has always had a deep commitment to better the lives of people in the developing world. An important part of this program was the education of students from these countries to whom Don was very committed to educate.
Under Don’s leadership, the unit developed a number of postgraduate programs in Engineering.
Students attended this program from all over the world. The program continued to expand in subsequent years becoming the foundation for today’s engineering postgraduate Masters programs.
Your memory will live with all of us friends, colleagues and students who shared in Don’s life.
Hector Malano
I followed Don as a graduate student at Melbourne University and this was the beginning of a long – if somewhat intermittent – friendship with Don.
I greatly admired his commitment to his profession and to those he could assist.
Lam Pham’s tribute admirably reflected Don as I knew him.
Max Lay
Deepest condolences to Heather and family from Tony and Tomoko.
Don Mansell was a civil and structural engineer at Melbourne Uni before becoming Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Technology in Lae, PNG. This indicated Don’s life-long interest and commitment to engineering, education and appropriate technology and developing countries.
On his return to Melbourne Uni in 1978 Don was one of the founders of the ‘Appropriate Technology Section’ in the Faculty of Engineering, which in 1980 this became the International Development Technologies Unit, later Centre. DevTec was a pioneer education and research university centres focused on engineering and technology in development. IDTC students went on to do PhDs and IDTC staff provided PhD supervision and input to undergraduate courses across the Engineering Faculty. IDTC became a victim of its success as university interest in overseas students increased, and aid funding declined, and was merged into the Engineering Faculty in 2000, where the spirit continued. IDTC had hundreds of students for over 20 years, many of whom went on to important academic and other roles back home and in Australia.
Don was a valued mentor, colleague and friend to all, and he leaves a legacy and spirit in the hearts and minds of all who worked with and knew him.
Tony Marjoram
Heather, Mary and I were very saddened to hear of Don’s passing through our close mutual friend Lam Pham.
Although I had lost contact with him since Covid, and the deterioration in Mary’s dementia (now in a nursing home), had put an end to visits to Melbourne, before that I regularly looked forward to meeting him and others of his generation who had meant much to me during my working life at lunches organised by Lam.
I first really got to know Don when he was seconded as Professor of Civil Engineering to the University of Technology at Lae and made occasional visits to James Cook University in Townsville at the invitation of our Professor of Civil Engineering Hugh Trollope, who was also a great admirer of Don, not only as an academic but also as a person.
His commitment to the education of young engineers from developing countries was outstanding and an outcome of a strong personal Christian faith which sustained him throughout his life.
Deeply remembered.
George Walker
Sending lots of love from the Pragt family on the news of Don’s passing.
I have great memories of visiting the Mansell house in Box Hill, I tuned their piano one time and then played it with Don accompanying me on his viola.
He took great interest in how I tuned, and asked a lot of great questions.
Always a joy to visit them and they were both very generous with their time.
Shaun Pragt
Dear Heather and family,
Myriam and I would like to offer our sincere condolences.
We both have fond memories of the times we spent together even though they were brief.
I was fortunate to have Don as one of my PhD supervisors who became a mentor.
I have learned much from him about steel, academia and life.
He gave generously to build others, and we will be forever grateful for the gift of his friendship.
Emad Gad
My sympathies to Heather, Pam, Robyn, Peter, Deryn and families on Don’s passing.
Lovely memories of knowing Don at Doncaster Church of Christ and him being part of the string quartet.
Peggy Petty
Don Mansell, thanks for what you have done for me and my family.
Dear Heather and family, our deepest condolences.
Ris, Rudy and Melchi.