Henry Joseph McKinley Jr.'s Obituary
Henry Joseph (Joe) McKinley Jr., beloved husband, father, brother, grandfather and friend, died on July 9 after a short illness. Joe was born December 5th, 1938 in Atlanta, Georgia, where he graduated from high school. He became the first member of his family to attend college and, upon graduating from Georgia Tech and their ROTC program in 1960, earned his commission into the United States Army. Joe served in the Signal Corps in Berlin from 1961 to 1963 and was discharged in 1964. He soon entered Penn State’s electrical engineering Master’s Degree program. In 1965, Joe went to work for Eastman Kodak in Rochester, NY, where he met the love of his life, Susan Williams. They were married in 1966. Joe’s passion for engineering and education led him to enter Cornell’s electrical engineering doctoral program in 1967 and in 1969 Joe and Sue welcomed twin boys, Chip and Tyler, to the world. After completing his PhD in 1971, Joe accepted a faculty position in the EE Department at the University of Tulsa, and the family moved to Tulsa. Joe’s love of engineering finally outweighed his love of education and he moved to Amoco’s Research Center in 1978 where he worked until retiring in 1996. Joe then began the most enriching chapter of his life continually traveling the US and Europe with his best friend and wife Sue. Much of his time in retirement was spent in Yarmouth Port on Cape Cod. His high points there were always when his sons, daughters-in-law and grandsons visited. Joe will be forever missed by his family and friends. He is survived by his wife Sue, sons Chip and his wife Naina, Tyler and his wife Ingrid, sister Elaine, and grandsons Evan, Ethan, Elijah and Ryan. Services will be held at 10:00 at Floral Haven Funeral Home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma on Thursday, July 27, followed by a reception at the Family Center. A graveside service will be held later at Ancient Cemetery in Yarmouth Port. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to Tulsa Habitat for Humanity, Street Cats of Tulsa, or Yarmouth Port Library, Yarmouth Port, MA.
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