ENS WILLIAM H. KEEN, USN

Class 1948

Born January 27, 1924

Died March 17, 1950

Age 26

Hometown Milford, Illinois

Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1948 Lucky Bag:

WILLIAM HARVEY KEEN

Take a long lean frame . . . hook on a face with a perpetual grin . . . add a cheerful personality . . . that’s Bill . . . rapid almost eager conversation as though born of pleasure experienced from knowing enough about the subject to be able to put the words together . . . employing a sense of humor that won him friends from the start . . . seldom seen angry . . . almost always a congenial good-natured guy . . . easy to get along with . . . not at all deceptive in action . . . straight forward. . . friendly. The girl back home did not keep him away from dragging … his main interest outside of the business affairs of the Log and the Press Detail. A background of business experience gave him necessary skill to keep the Log in order … a task that occupied a lot of his time but did not prevent him from keeping up those aggravating academics. Very much interested in aviation . . . his salty cap was well known in the halls of Bancroft until the O.D. saw it . . . fresh air fiend … to the discomfort of his wife … a lover of plenty of sleep . . . the words . . . leave quietly please were often heard from the depths of his pillow. A likable fellow with more character assets than liabilities.

Bill was the LOG Business Manager and a member of the Public Relations Committee. He graduated from the 14th Company with the class of 1948-B in June 1948. (The top half of the class academically, designated 1948-A, graduated in June 1947 as the last wartime-accelerated class.)

Loss

Bill was lost on March 17, 1950 when his Corsair crashed while practicing landings at Bronson Field near Pensacola, Florida.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Per the Pensacola News Journal, March 18, 1950: The plane was in routine field carrier landing practice, on the third takeoff, and was airborne at 100 feet when the engine faltered, and the plane made a shallow right turn and dropped to a wooded swamp area about 500 yards from the northeast end of the landing strip and burned. … His body was recovered.

William graduated from Milford Township High School in 1942. He was voted Boy Most Patriotic and received Honorable Mention in the category Best Actor. He was co-editor of the yearbook, ran the 880 in track, and he was in a Brass Sextette which won a first rating at the District Solo and Ensemble Contests in February 1942. He played Prof. McIntyre in the senior class play “Growing Pains.” “Six feet one, with straight brown hair, Bill Keen has contributed his share.” Class Prophecy: Working on the radio program, “Second Nighter,” was that great lover of stage, screen, and radio, William Keen.

At the University of Illinois, he lived in Illini Hall. He also attended Purdue. He later received a BS in electrical engineering. He arrived in Pensacola for flight training in July 1948.

He was survived by his wife Marjory, his parents, and a brother Robert. His father was a distributor of petroleum products.

He is buried in Illinois.