JAMES E. McKEON ’51

JAMES E. McKEON, a chemist and technology consultant, died Nov. 13, 2016, at age 87. He received his degree with high distinction in chemistry and was elected to Sigma Xi. After receiving a master’s degree from Wesleyan, he received a PhD in organic chemistry from Yale University. He joined Union Carbide as a research chemist in 1959 and became vice president of the specialty chemicals division in 1984, after a long career there in research and development. The holder of U.S. and foreign patents,, he published numerous articles in scientific publications. After his distinguished career at Union Carbide, he began his own technology consulting business, Baseline Technologies. He was a member of the American Chemical Society, the New York Academy of Science, and was very active politically, having served as Selectman for the town of New Fairfield (Conn.) in 2005. Among those who survive are his wife, BettyLou McKeon, four sons, 12 grandchildren, two siblings, three stepsons, and many nieces and nephews. Other survivors include his stepdaughter-in-law, Jacquelyn M. Roberts ’82, and his step-granddaughter, Simone Roberts-Payne ’20. His first wife, Patricia Tuttle McKeon, and two brothers predeceased him.