Thomas Roger “Tom” Keane, aged 95, passed away on July 3, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. Born in 1928, in Boston, Massachusetts, Tom was the beloved son of Thomas Roger Keane Sr. and Mary Elisabeth (Berrigan) Keane.
Tom attended Boston Latin School and he furthered his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning a master’s degree in Chemical Reaction Engineering in 1952. Shortly thereafter, he served his country as a First Lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers during the Korean War from 1951-53.
On July 2, 1955, Tom married his love Marie Jeanette Santora, marking the beginning of a partnership that would last 69 years. Marie cherishes her special memories of traveling at home and abroad with Tom. He was a devout parishioner at St. Mary Magdalen Parish, where he played guitar during the first parish folk masses and served as an educator in CCD classes alongside Marie. He was also actively involved in the Cursillo movement and served as a Eucharistic Minister.
During his career, Tom was an internationally recognized expert in chemical reaction engineering and thermodynamics. At the same time, he taught and inspired his colleagues as a leader in the DuPont technical community. His passion was to educate and mentor the next generation of engineers. A man of many interests, Tom was passionate about complex problem solving in mathematics and computer science and he shared this joy with family, friends and colleagues. His was truly a beautiful mind. He taught chemical engineering at the University of Delaware, served as an editor of Chemical Engineering Science and worked with the ISCRE organization to sustain its growth and vibrancy for more than four decades. Tom was named a DuPont Fellow in 1991 and received the Chilton award in 1999. His colleagues recognized him as a consummate role model of what an industrial engineer should be. He retired from DuPont in 1999 and in 2000 was awarded the prestigious Lavoisier Medal for technical achievement as an internationally recognized authority in chemical reaction engineering. Most recently he shared his love of learning by teaching at the Osher Institute in Wilmington Delaware.
Tom is survived by his loving wife, Marie (Maria) Keane; his sister, Susan Keane; his children, T. Roger Keane III (Karen), Kathleen Keane (Stephen Small), Elisabeth Smith (David), Mary Christine Keane, and Julia Keane; and his grandchildren, Jenna Ruppert, Nicole Vaskov (Alex), Ryan Ruppert, Christopher Small, Rachel Keane, Alexandra Keane, Moses Small, and Jacob Keane, and his great grandchildren Claire and Carston Cronshaw, and Miles and Riley Doyle.
Tom was preceded in death by his brother Peter Keane and grandchild Thomas Roger Keane IV.
Tom led his life with integrity, humility and generosity and will be sorely missed by family friends and colleagues.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to a charity of your choice as a tribute to Tom’s remarkable life and legacy.
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