Lester LeFevre Cecil

Lester LeFevre Cecil (November 21, 1893 – November 26, 1982) was an Ohio state judge and later a United States federal judge.

Born in Miami County, Ohio, Cecil received an LL.B. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1917. He was in private practice in Dayton, Ohio from 1917 to 1922, interrupted briefly by his service as a Sergeant in the United States Army during World War I, in 1918. He was a prosecuting attorney for the City of Dayton from 1922 to 1925. He was a judge on the Municipal Court of Dayton, Ohio from 1926 to 1929, and on the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas from 1929 to 1953.

On April 1, 1953, Cecil was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio vacated by Robert Reasoner Nevin. Cecil was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 23, 1953, and received his commission the same day.

On February 17, 1959, President Eisenhower nominated Cecil for elevation to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated by the appointment of Potter Stewart to the United States Supreme Court. Cecil was again confirmed by the United States Senate on July 15, 1959, and received his commission on July 18, 1959. He served as chief judge from 1962 to 1963, then took senior status on August 1, 1965, serving in that capacity until his death.