Obituary: Richard Keegan

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Richard J. Keegan, 94 of Westford, formerly of Greenwich and New Haven, CT, died on Feb. 14, 2019 in his residence at the Bridges at Epoch in Westford, Mass.

Dick was born in New Haven, CT, on May 10, 1924, the son of the late Richard J. and Catherine (Shea) Keegan.
A WWII veteran, he served in General Patton’s 3rd Army in the European theater and was awarded the Purple Heart. Following his honorable discharge, he returned to Cornell University on the GI Bill where he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega, the President of the Interfraternity Council and long-time class President.

Following his graduation in 1949, Dick worked in sales for Procter and Gamble briefly before moving to New York City where he began a forty year career in the advertising industry including joining Young and Rubicam in 1960 managing Johnson and Johnson and Procter and Gamble accounts. In 1971, he was appointed senior vice president/account director at Needham, Harper and Steers where in 1973 he was elected to the board of directors. In 1976, he joined Doyle Dane Bernbach as group Senior Vice President.

Dick and his wife Joan moved to North Maple Avenue in Greenwich in 1953 where they brought up their children and resided until 2008. Dick provided advertising services for Pray Motors of Greenwich, then known as Blanchard-Pray Automobile Corp in 1962 introducing the new VW convertible bug among other campaigns. In 1988, upon his informal retirement, he opened Kee Associates, an advertising consulting firm in Greenwich. In 2008, he and his wife Joan moved to Wallingford, CT.

As long-time alumni supporter and volunteer for Cornell, Dick was honored to be a lifetime member of the University Council, a member of the Cornell University Tower Club and bestowed by the University with the Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award in 2000.

Dick’s many interests included skiing at Magic Mountain in Londonderry, Vt. where he was a member of the Outing Club and golfing at Stanwich Country Club in Greenwich CT.

Richard was predeceased by his wife of 64 years, Joan Noden Keegan, who died in 2017. He leaves a son, Stephen J. Keegan and his wife Anna of Lunenburg, Mass.; a daughter, Janet C. Bray of Murray, NE; two grandchildren, William R. Keegan of New York City and Samuel P. Keegan of Boston.

A funeral Mass for Dick and his wife Joan will be celebrated on Saturday, March 9 at 11 a.m. in St. Boniface Church, 817 Massachusetts Ave., Lunenburg, Mass.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the Irene and Morris B. Kesslers Scholars Program for First Generation Students at Cornell University, Office of Alumni Affairs and Development 130 E. Seneca Street, Suite 400, Ithaca, NY 14850.

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