Robert Jackson McKean, Jr.

Robert Jackson McKean, Jr., of Lantana and Atlantis, Florida died peacefully at his home on Saturday, August 9, 2014. He was the son of Isabel and Robert J. McKean, Sr. A World War II veteran, Mr. McKean was one of the lead banking attorneys in the financial rescues of New York City in 1974-75 and of the Chrysler Corporation in 1980-81. He was born on December 21, 1925 in the Bronx, N.Y. and graduated from A.B. Davis High School in Mount Vernon, N.Y. where he was Valedictorian. Mr. McKean then served his country as a Technical Sergeant in the 286th Engineer Combat Battalion. He served in England, at the Battle of the Bulge in France, in Germany and Austria. He received his B.A. Summa Cum Laude in 1950 upon his return from the war, from Amherst College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received the College's Medal for Eminent Service in 1968, served on the Board of Trustees from 1971-1989 and was Life Trustee of the College. He received his L.L.B., Cum Laude in 1953 from Harvard Law School. He joined the New York City Law Firm of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, where he became a Senior Partner specializing in banking and finance law. He was a member of the Management Committee of the firm, the New York State Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, L'Union Internationale des Avocats, and the Commercial Panel of Arbitrators of the American Bar Association. Mr. McKean was a member of the Committee of the Amherst Board of Trustees which recommended that the College become coeducational. He also served on the Five College Cooperation Committee with Trustees from Smith College, Mt. Holyoke College, Hampshire College and University of Massachusetts. He was Co-Chairman of the first Parents Committee of Hampshire College and a member of its Advisory Board. He served on the Board of Trustees of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. for many years and was a Trustee Emeritus there. He was active in community affairs in the City of Rye, New York, where he was a member of the Board of Education, the Architectural Review Board, the Board of Zoning Appeals, the library, and the hospital. He was also a Trustee and Elder at the Rye Presbyterian Church, and a Trustee of the Hudson River Presbytery. He is survived by his wife, Sally Ament McKean, two daughters and two sons from a previous marriage; Katherine McKean Rochefort (Michael), Lauren McKean French (Larry), Douglas McKean and Andrew McKean, two step-daughters, Debra Ament and Jennifer Ament, step-son Charles Ament, three granddaughters, Julie Rochefort, Emily Rochefort and Stephanie McKean, and two step-grandchildren, Leanne Sherwood and Christopher Fieldhouse. A funeral service will take place at 11:00 AM on Friday, August 15, 2014 at Tillman Funeral Home & Crematory, 2170 South Military Trail, West Palm Beach Florida 33415. Interment with military honors will follow at South Florida National Cemetery in Lake Worth, Florida. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Friday from 10:00 AM until service time.