Kevin T. Keane
Kevin Thomas Keane passed away at 86 after a brief illness on June 10, 2019. A summer resident of Upper Saranac Lake since 1983, he passed peacefully surrounded by family in Buffalo. He and his loving wife Betty Ann celebrated 60 years of outdoor adventures together.
Born in New York City, he grew up in Center Moriches on Long Island. He received an AB degree in economics from Harvard University in 1955, while on an Air Force ROTC scholarship. He served in the Air Force Strategic Air Command and gained both private and commercial pilots licenses. He then went on to earn an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in 1960.
Mr. Keane chose to move with his wife to western New York where he could have a larger impact on smaller, regional companies. In 1970, he was a founding member of Astronics Corporation, a leading supplier to the global aerospace, defense, electronics and semiconductor industries. As chairman and CEO since 1974, he retired in 2005 and continued as chairman of the board of the company as well as chairman of the board of Mod-Pac, a printing and packaging company and former subsidiary of Astronics.
Throughout his career, he served as a trustee or board of director of numerous organizations, including board chairman of Triform Camphill Community, D’youville College, Millard Fillmore Hospital and Western New York PBS WNED, which produced the Emmy Award-winning documentary “The Adirondacks.” Locally, he joined The Wild Center Board of Trustees the year it opened and served until he joined the Advisory Board in 2013. He was a proud supporter of Upper Saranac Lake Foundation, Nature Conservancy, The Land Trust, the Adirondack Medical Center and Paul Smith’s College.
For many years, he and his wife enjoyed Monday morning kayaks around the region with the Tupper Lake Irregulars. He also had a daily early morning paddle across Upper Saranac Lake in search of eagles and enjoyed taking others by kayak to see the beaver pond near Saranac Inn.
Kevin had a rule of “Ice Cream Every Day!” and Donnelly’s was a favorite destination to take grandchildren and visiting guests. Kevin’s other motto was “Family First!” In his honor, please enjoy some ice cream with your family.
Kevin is survived by wife Elizabeth Ann; children Kevin (Alison), Robert (Heather), Daniel (Leslie), David, and Patricia Dowden (Nathan); 10 grandchildren; siblings John, Susan Trivison and Andree Shields; and the Triform Camphill family.
A celebration of Kevin’s life will be scheduled at a later date.