Obituary: Stephen C. Matheny, P.E.

Stephen “Steve” C. Matheny, P.E., F.ASCE, of West Bloomfield, Michigan, passed away suddenly on Aug. 10, 2026, while scuba diving with friends in Marathon, Florida — doing something he loved, in the company of people he cared about. He was 64 years old.

Steve was born in Detroit to Richard Matheny and Beverly (Steadman) Matheny. He attended Wayne State University in Detroit, where he was an academic and athletic scholarship recipient and an All-American swimmer, earning his Bachelor of Science in 1985 and Master of Science in 1992, both in Civil Engineering.

Steve built a civil engineering career spanning more than four decades, leaving a lasting mark on infrastructure across Michigan and the country.

Steve eventually became a Business Development Engineer for Logan Clay Products, where he trained municipal engineers across the East Coast and Midwest and, as a member of the National Clay Pipe Institute, led major workshops on the design, installation, and maintenance of vitrified clay pipe. In this role he also became a leading educator and advocate for the Pilot Tube Method of guided boring, with fieldwork that included some of the first major Pilot Tube projects in metro Detroit and sewer projects from Novi, Michigan, to Memphis, Tennessee.

Steve was a licensed professional engineer in Michigan and achieved ASCE Fellow grade — a distinction achieved by just 3 percent of Society members. He served for many years on ASCE’s Branch and Section Boards and chaired the ASTM C04.20 Committee on Vitrified Clay Pipe. Steve was also a longtime board member of the Midwest Society for Trenchless Technology (MSTT), serving as the organization’s chair at the time of his death. He authored and presented technical papers at national conferences including UIC, No-Dig Show, WEF, and ASCE Pipelines, and was honored with Contech’s Manager of the Year (2007) and Young Engineer of the Year (1997).

But for all his professional accomplishments, those who knew Steve best will remember his warmth — a welcoming presence who made you feel like an old friend within minutes, who loved sharing his knowledge as much as learning, and who was always ready for the next adventure.

Steve is survived by his wife, Maria Matheny, and his two sons, Anthony and Matteo.

Steve’s legacy lives on in the bridges he engineered, the communities he modernized, the engineers he mentored, and the countless lives he touched with his warmth and enthusiasm for life. He will be deeply missed.

Read the official obituary here.

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