Donald James Keehan's Obituary
Donald James Keehan, of Avon Lake, Ohio, passed away on December 28, 2022.
Don was predeceased by Matt (father), Berniece (mother), Matt Jr. (brother), Robert (brother), Brenda (Sister), and Eric (Grandson). He is survived and missed by his loving wife, Arlene (née Higgins) of 63 years, and his children, Denise (Richard Vassanelli), Donald Jr. (Joan), Daniel (Jane), Doug (Lisa), Darrin, David (Jill) and Toshiro (Betsy). He is forever cherished and remembered by nine grandchildren, Joshua, Dustin, Tyler, Ally, Jacob, Luke, Vinny, Gemma, and Lulu, and two great-grandchildren, Declan and Flannery, as well as his sister Barbara (Evans).
Don was born on December 17, 1935, to Matt and Berniece Keehan in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up rooting for his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers and running around with his siblings on the streets of Brooklyn. He would talk fondly of games of stickball, chasing the ice cart around, and seeing Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, and the boys play. Don would attend Brooklyn Technical High School, a school of 6,000 boys whose focus was on engineering and would impact Don’s future. After Don graduated from high school in 1952, he served our country as an underwater demolition specialist in the United States Marine Corps. He proudly served in the Korean war. While in the Marine Corps, Don earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering from East Carolina and a certificate in business administration from New York University.
After being honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, Don works as a deep-sea diver, door-to-door magazine salesman, and salesman of sporting goods and novelties to high schools in New York City.
Don began working for the Bingham Pump Company in 1958 as a Sales Engineer. While at Bingham Pump, Don tweaks a Vertical Centrifugal Deep Well Pump capable of pulling a vacuum, and it is called ‘Primamatic.’ Don works with the U.S. Navy designing a cargo pumping system on a new T5 fleet of oilers.
Due to its pump design and operational simplicity, almost all major oil companies, including Cities Service Oil, Sinclair Oil, Gulf Oil, Hess Oil, Texaco Oil, and others, invest in the system.
Don began to work closely with Sinclair Oil for their new tank’s design program. The “SS Sinclair Texas” is a new 50,000 DWT oil tanker, the first U.S. ship built with a bridge aft. Another primary design incorporated onboard this tanker was the first automatic cargo pumps and valves controlled hydraulically from the bridge deck. This system included Bingham Pumps “Primatic” pump.
The Shipyard Bethlehem Steel Sparrows Point first refused to warranty the “SS Sinclair Texas” if this system was used.
However, Sinclair demanded the system be used. T.T. Wilkinson, Sinclair Director of Engineering, and Don appeared before Bethlehem’s 12 Naval Architects to convince them this system would work. By lunchtime, all 12 architects approved of Don’s design. This “new concept” in tanker design becomes a standard of large American tankers.
Later T.T. Wilkinson and Don deliver a presentation at the annual world meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Don is voted in “SNAME.” This experience would develop his passion for the marine market and composites.
Don married the love of his life Arlene on July 11, 1959, in Long Island, New York. Don and Arlene went on to have seven children, Denise, Donald Jr., Daniel, Douglas, Darrin, David, and Toshiro (Joe). Don’s entrepreneurial spirit started at a young age starting Composite Pumps Inc. in his basement in Long Island, New York, in 1963. Composite Pumps Inc. manufactured the world’s first industrial composite pump. Based on the technology he was developing, he and Arlene packed up their five kids and moved to Bay Village, Ohio, in 1968.
At the time, Don held two patents on self-priming pumps and had four pending patents for reinforced plastic pumps, air pollution, water pollution control systems, and a sewage abatement system that would purify water in 15 minutes electronically without the addition of chemicals.
Don and Arlene began their first business out of their home, Dabt Enterprises Inc. They would make and sell patriotic and historic tapestries out of burlap from sketches Arlene would draw. Her sketch would be imprinted by silk screening onto the burlap and was in four colors. The burlap would be plasticized, finished with a border, and braided for hanging.
They did events such as the historic moon landing of Neil Armstrong, Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg address, Martin Luther King’s famed “I have a dream” speech, and many more. Prior to the tapestries, Dabt Enterprises made stuffed animals and cigarette boxes containing music boxes for Army P.X.’s and Navy ship stores.
Don bought the building on Jaycox Road in Avon, Ohio, in 1970 and incorporated Plastonics Pumps, Inc. In 1972 Plastonics Pumps became a subsidiary of Plastonics International, Inc. Don’s first patent was issued for making impellers out of composite materials. Plastonics International lives up to its name, opening its European Headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. In addition, they add significant distributors in England, Germany, Sweden, France, and Italy, to name a few. During this time, Don and Arlene met a young aspiring chef in Cleveland named Toshiro Ikehata, fondly known as Joe to his new “adopted” family. Joe has been a part of the Keehan family since the day they met, and Don and Arlene took him in under their roof to help him achieve his dreams.
Don and his team developed a new polymer composite material called Pyroite in 1978. In addition, a new plant is opened in Durban, South Africa. Don and Arlene buy the flat of former PGA Golfer Gary Player as they work together building this new facility. Don was always respectful of the ways of other cultures, and it was shown in how he treated his employees in this apartheid-run country.
He respected the cultures of the Zulu tribe, and even when his nature was to be more giving, he respected their ways.
Employees would rave about how Don took care of them worldwide. He always viewed them as part of the family and would take care of and treat them as such.
In Ohio, Don helped support and grow a non-profit organization called Young Men’s Chance for Change. This organization’s sole mission was to help inner-city young men achieve better opportunities in their life. He spent thousands of hours with hundreds of young men during his involvement. He would bring them around his family, to the office, go camping with them and help them evolve as young men. He would always include his children so they could see all sides of life and instill respect, understanding, and accepting a person for who they are and not see anything else. This was the foundation for Don’s philanthropic giving, and he met many amazing young men along the way. He viewed its founder and director, Brother Anthony Ratti, as one of his closest friends.
In 1984 Plastonics developed the world’s first deep well pump for Monterey Aquarium in California. This advancement enabled the fish and aquatic life to live in an environment uncontaminated by metals. Plastonics would sell its 14,000th pump in 1986 and be sold to a large conglomerate.
During this time, Don continued his education at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He would take classes in Polymer Chemistry and began teaching them as well. Don was an avid reader and would read and teach himself different polymer technologies that would lead to future developments. He would also read about other countries and their cultures.
This reading would help him throughout his career in customer relations because he could talk about the history and cultural things with clients and employees alike. This knowledge and his genuine nature gave him a “United Nations” of friends worldwide, many of whom he was still in touch with recently.
Advanced Polymer Sciences, Inc. was formed in 1988 to produce high-performance polymers for aerospace and military applications.
Don’s patent-pending resin “Siloxirane” was used to manufacture missile bodies, magnetic flowmeters, gatling gun barrels, and hydraulic actuator bodies.
Advanced Polymer Sciences began using the Siloxirane resin for manufacturing a high-performance coating in railcars and over-the-road trailers in 1991. The first Siloxirane patent was issued, with a second patent to follow the next year. Don formed a partnership with Takinetics in Harrison, Arkansas, to filament wind composite tanks and pipes for the chemical industry using Siloxirane resin.
Don’s passion for the maritime industry came back into focus as Advanced Polymer Sciences coated the first chemical tanker with MarineLINE in 1995. The Latvian Shipping owned M/T Indra was converted from an oil tanker to a chemical tanker in Lisbon, Portugal. Three other vessels in Latvian’s fleet would be coated over the next two years creating recognition for MarineLINE. In addition, some of the world’s leading maritime companies, such as Stolt-Nielsen, V-Ships, Ceres Sea Chem, Hiltueit Tankers, and Chemical Tankers of America, would utilize MarineLINE. In 1996, MarineLINE was used for the first time to coat a newbuild chemical tanker.
During this time for marketing, Don developed a newsletter to send to customers entitled “Imagineering.” Don was a big admirer of Albert Einstein and followed his statement, “Imagination is more important than knowledge,” which was written at the top of every newsletter. You would also notice the pictures of Einstein throughout the conference room and other areas of the building.
Advanced Polymer Coatings (APC) was formed in 1997 as coatings have now become the focus of the business. The following patent is issued for Siloxirane around “Multi-Functional Oxirane Polymers.” Don hires Joe Harrington to help take MarineLINE to market on a bigger scale. Don and Joe would bond over their love for the Marine Corps and their drive to put MarineLINE at the top of the marine coating world. They would, through all their years together, become very close friends.
APC coated its 15th full vessel with MarineLINE in 2000. Don also formed a joint venture in Charleston, South Carolina, with Detysen Shipyard, called Charleston Advanced Polymers, to develop chemical tankers with multi-wall composite tanks instead of steel.
Although the ship broker could never solidify a customer and a vessel was never built, it laid the groundwork for things to come in the future.
Don was issued the first patent for creating the base resin of the current coatings MarineLINE 784 and ChemLINE 784 in 2002.
This coating created a unique cross-linking capability that makes it virtually non-permeable to chemical attack. It was an incredible advancement in coating technology and pushed the envelope of innovation in the industry. It prompted major global coatings companies to private label and pushed them to buy APC at various times. At this time, APC also opened its first international office, APC Europe, in Manchester, England.
APC opened its next overseas office in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2003. Don was always fond of going to Turkey and established many long-lasting friendships.
He viewed customers as partners and really grew a liking for Turkey and all the culture and traditions it held.
APC coats its 40th vessel and is building its foundation as a coating of choice among chemical tanker owners and operators. Don also pushed for technology outside of coatings, and in 2004 APC developed a proprietary heat curing system for MarineLINE and a more defined inspection program.
Don formed CompMarine, Ltd. in 2005 and built off his experience with Charleston Advanced Polymer to develop a concept for a “green” chemical tanker with independent, multi-wall composite tanks.
Don worked closely with Fred Policelli and Al Newberry, as well as Sea Tec out of Glasgow, Scotland, to design the tanks and ship specifications, respectively. The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) would issue class approval in principle for the vessels. In addition, multiple patents were issued to Don for the design of the vessel and the tanks.
Even though a vessel hasn’t been built to date, Don’s vision for the future helped promote changes in the industry.
The first vessel with cylindrical tanks was designed and built out of steel in 2017. This was a project that Don was ahead of his time and that we will see in the future. He had multiple patents issued for this project back then and was working on making changes and reissuing them at the time of his passing.
APC received a “Certificate of Design Assessment” from The American Bureau of Shipping in 2006 for its MarineLINE coating.
This coincided with the 100th Chemical Tanker being fully coated in Turkey. Don also received his European patents for the base polymer of MarineLINE 784 and ChemLINE 784. APC also established a partnership with Huni & Co in Germany to provide coatings to the ISO container market.
APC formally opens office in Shanghai, China, in 2007. Don spent many trips in the far east, enjoying the people and cultures. He often joyfully reminisced about his travels to China, Japan, Korea, and Singapore. He enjoyed talking about China’s history and the lessons to be learned from them. His respect for the Japanese, how they did business, and their commitment to honor was spoken of often. Don would travel with Toshiro quite often to Japan and develop many friendships. He would proudly visit Korea and share his experiences in the Marine Corps and fighting for their freedom in the Korean War. He would be received lovingly and thankfully by the Korean people whenever he shared his fondness for their country. He enjoyed Singapore; he usually started his far east trips off with a stop to adjust to the time change. He would catch up with customers and old friends and stay at one of his favorite hotels, The Goodwood Park Hotel. The staff would welcome him like an old friend, and the tailor would always smile and have a long conversation almost every morning with Don, whether fitting him for a suit or not.
APC also doubled the production area of the building in Avon in 2007 to meet the growth of the business. Don formed a joint venture with Hydrite Chemical of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 2008. The partnership was called Hydrite Advanced Resins and was created to manufacture the base polymer of ChemLINE 784 and MarineLINE 784. They also promoted new technologies in the field of resins while meeting the growing demand APC was having because of their accelerated growth.
Don thought very highly of the Honkamp family, the founding family of Hydrite. He often shared things he learned from them as a multi-generational family business and became very close with Paul Honkamp and John Winter through the process. Since they were all December kids, they would celebrate their birthdays together, planning a dinner every year.
Don formed a company with his long-time attorney and friend, John Manos, called ASCUS Technology, Ltd. in 2008. The company was set up to build graphite composite over-the-road trailers. Three patents were issued to the company, and the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a special permit to manufacture. Several prototypes were manufactured, and the concept was proven on many levels, including special military uses. However, the demand diminished because of the economic downturn and other factors, and the project was scrapped.
APC coated its 300th Chemical Tanker in 2009 with MarineLINE in China. At that time, APC expanded its international presence by adding offices in Singapore, Korea, The Netherlands, Mexico, and Greece. APC was also granted its ISO 9001:2008 certification by the American Bureau of Shipping Quality Evaluations, Inc. APC continues to forge ahead, building a solid reputation in the Marine market and other chemical transportation markets.
Don would continue to develop strong relationships and continue chasing his entrepreneurial dreams. By forming Chemical Tankers Europe, he would dabble with close friend Jan Slooter in the chemical tanker operations market. He would create new offerings to customers with APC’s insurance guarantee program. He would also dabble in U.V. cured coatings with a long-time friend and the person he credits giving MarineLINE the first shot, Janis Brunavs.
Don is still an inspiration to APC today and is a driving force behind the continued growth and innovation. Let us remember Don as the man who took a vision and a risk and faced every challenge head-on in building the company we are fortunate to be a part of today. Don was the true definition of an entrepreneur, and he never stopped pushing the envelope of technology and dreaming big dreams. He was an innovator and pioneer, pushing fear and the naysayers aside to accomplish what he believed and was committed to achieving.
He was well ahead of his time on many of his developments.
Don was more than just an entrepreneur; he was a son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, philanthropist, colleague, mentor, motivator, visionary, and most importantly, our friend and inspiration.
Let us never forget the man who touched our lives every day. Whether it was the way he would look at you when you were talking to him, knowing that you were the only thing that mattered to him at that moment or when he would give that kind of crooked smile to let you know he cared. He treated everyone the best, and they say you can tell a person’s character by how they treat people in the service industry.
Well, then, Don excelled at that and was a role model for us all because he took a genuine interest in everyone everywhere we went. He saw people for their hearts and who they were as a person, and he was as genuine as the day is long. Giving back was at his core, and he always was willing to give a helping hand or genuinely change people’s lives.
He loved to help people and to donate to causes he believed needed help. He was a significant driver of St. Edward High School’s engineering program. He not only donated money, but he wanted to help guide and show the possibilities engineering offered. His days at Young Men’s Chance for Change were the foundation for his philanthropic spirit. He was active with the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, and many other great charities. He would also donate to people directly to change their lives and their situation. But he didn’t just give them money; he showed them his time and motivation to help them change their position and impact their outcome.
Don loved books and movies and had an eternal thirst for knowledge that could never be quenched. He would read his Wall Street Journal every day and leave it for you if he felt something could help you. He would share his library of books because he genuinely believed you would enjoy the book or learn something. He had the most brilliant mind imaginable, and we were fortunate to listen and learn in every conversation. He was also an incredible storyteller of his experiences. Whether changing his voice’s accent or getting animated at parts, his stories always stuck with you.
Don loved golf, and as he got older, he gave up spending his Saturdays and Sundays in the laboratory at the office, developing his next great polymer or, in his office, developing the next marketing piece to spend time on the golf course. He was proudly a member of Elyria Country Club, where he and Arlene have established life-long friendships with many couples. When they lived there, he was a member of Shadow Wood Preserve in Fort Myers, Florida. He was twice at Gateway Country Club in Fort Myers, Florida, and established many friendships. He would play this course often with his father-in-law Frank before his passing in 2007.
Don was an amazing father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He often said he raised his kids the Marine Corps way, with discipline, respect, and love. He was all of that, and we always knew he loved us. Whether it was summer weekends at the Blue Marlin, where he would get in with his flippers and give us rides on his back, or competing with us in races, we knew he wanted the best for us. He and Mr. Gannon would cook dinner for us and compete with us in and out of the pool till they would kick us out.
He taught us to be competitive in the pool, basketball court, and life. He would use all his fouls on the basketball court, but he was toughening us up for life. He made sure to coach us and spend time with us as kids. He loved his grandkids and great-grandkids with incredible love. He and Arlene would travel to see them wherever they would to share in their big moments, special days, or just to let them know they were loved. Don stood proudly on the most important days of our lives; whether it was graduations, weddings, first communions, or some other ceremony, he was proudly there. Sometimes we were fortunate to hear him sing loud and proud, especially “My Way” by Frank Sinatra.
Don loved to sing, and he would sing even louder in church. His faith was incredibly strong, and he let it be known. When he would drive by a church, no matter where he was, he would do the sign of the cross from his forehead to his lips to his heart. His faith was something to be seen, and by how he operated in his life, you could see that his faith in God carried him through every challenge and made him thank you for every blessing.
As his friend, you knew who to call whenever you needed advice or to vent. He was always good for a political discussion, and you knew where he stood, but he always respected you if you had a differing opinion. He made friends worldwide and would always see the best in people, giving them the benefit of the doubt.
As a husband of 63 years, he loved and cherished his wife, Arlene, every day. He called her names “precious” and “my love.” He was always quick to credit her for her part in their success.
Whether it was in business or family, he always made sure it was known that they did it together. He always wanted something special for her to celebrate her birthday or anniversary. When he talked about her, there was a gleam in his eye because he knew he had his soul mate and best friend. They are what every couple aspires to have and what Hollywood makes movies about. He knew he was blessed by their love.
Don will be missed every day, but we have our memories to remember him and his legacy to build on. We will continue to forge ahead as he would want us to add to his legacy every step along the way. We hope you will join us in celebrating the joy he brought to our lives for 87 years and remembering those good times.
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