William John “Bill” McKeown passed away at home on 16 September 2015 after a short bout with pancreatic cancer. He was born on Long Island, NY, but moved to the Panama Canal Zone with his family in 1939. His grandfather went to Panama during the canal construction days and Bill’s father, one of 11 children, was raised there. Bill went through the Canal Zone school system until ninth grade and then attended St. Leo College Preparatory School in Florida through the 12th grade. After graduating at St. Leo, Bill returned to Panama and attended Canal Zone Junior College where he excelled in sports. After JC, Bill attended Mississippi Southern and graduated in August 1959. In September 1959 Bill entered naval flight training in Pensacola and was a naval aviator until leaving the service in December of 1967 as a Lieutenant Commander. During his career with the Navy, Bill had the opportunity to do and see many interesting things. He was stationed in Corpus Christi, TX; Jacksonville, FL; Roosevelt Roads, PR; Johnsonville, PA; and aboard the aircraft carrier Kearsarge in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. Some of the more memorable experiences he had were flying with the South African Air Force out of Capetown and being in Mercury Control during one of Scott Carpenter’s space missions. He also met most of the Mercury and many of the Gemini astronauts and flew with some of them while stationed at the Naval Air Development Center. In January of 1968, Bill hired on with Western Airlines as a commercial pilot and flew for the next 17 years. During that time he was based in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Salt Lake City. Bill continued flying after Western Airlines merged with Delta and then retired from flying in 1985 as a Delta captain. Settling in Florida, Bill spent his retirement living in the cities of Seminole, Largo and ultimately The Villages. He enjoyed golfing and his golfing buddies as well as dinking around on the computer. He was an active member of the Madeira Beach American Legion, the Panama Canal Society and the Panama Canal Museum. Bill is survived by his loving wife of 39 years, Barbara Lacey from Seattle WA, daughters Kathleen Tevis, Corbin, KY and Patty Supnet, Covington, WA, son Michael McKeown, Vonore, TN, stepson Scott Dorn, Seattle, WA, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. A memorial Celebration of Life Mass will be held at St. Timothy of The Villages at 8:30 a.m. on Friday September 25, 2015. In lieu of flowers, a donation to your favorite charity in memory of Bill would be appreciated.
