Durham, N.H. - HARRY A. KEENER, educator and administrator for 37 years at the University of New Hampshire.
He was born on December 22, 1913, in Greene County, Pa., to MARY ANN KELLEY and FRANKLIN H. KEENER. His father was a farmer and his mother was a schoolteacher. When asked in later years about his earlier years growing up, he said, "I wouldn't trade my childhood for anything else in the world. Living on the farm was a lot of work, but I learned to have responsibility and to make decisions."
In 1936, he received a bachelor of science degree from Pennsylvania State University and then a master of science degree from West Virginia University in 1938. He returned to Pennsylvania State University and earned his doctorate of philosophy in 1941.
He married ELIZABETH MARGARET HARTLEY from Carmichaels, Greene County, in 1941 in Berwick, Maine and they resided in Durham, where they later had two children, ALLAN W. KEENER and WILLIAM F. KEENER. She died in 2002.
He joined the UNH faculty as an instructor in 1941 and advanced through the ranks to professor in 1950. He became director of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station in 1958 and Dean of the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture in 1961 and held both positions until his retirement in 1978, when he was honored with the title of professor and dean emeritus. At that time, he was quoted as saying, "I've never regretted coming to Durham. I think the hardest decision in my life was whether to go into administration or to stay in teaching. I finally decided to go into administration to prove to myself that I could do it." His fondest memories of the university were the associations he had with all the personnel. Many remember him while there as being the Dean of Deans.
He was listed in "Who's Who in America," "Who's Who in American Education," and "American Men and Women of Science." He co-authored a textbook entitled, "Milk Production and Processing," which was printed in both English and Spanish.
He was a member of the Board of Collaborators of the U.S. Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory from 1956 to 1959 and the U.S. Pasture Research Laboratory from 1952 to 1962. He was also a member of the New Hampshire Soil Conservation Commission from 1958 until his retirement in 1978.
He served on the New Hampshire Milk Sanitation Board for 15 years. He was a chairman of the National Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy and also served on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Committee of Nine, advising the Secretary of Agriculture on the operation of regional research programs, for many years.
He was the author of many articles in scientific publications and carried on extensive research in the field of animal nutrition. His study on the deficiency of cobalt in certain New Hampshire soils is credited with helping to eliminate a long-standing nutritional ailment of livstock with the state.
A U.S. Delegate to an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Agricultural Research Administration conference in Paris in 1969, he was also a member of a U.S. Agency for International Development mission to South Korea in 1970.
He was a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Society of Animal Science, American Dairy Science Association, Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Phi, Alpha Zeta, Gamma Sigma Delta and Alpha Gamma Rho.
He was a member of various organizaions and a former director of the New Hampshire Farm Museum in Milton. He served in various capacities at the Community Church of Durham. He was recently presented with an award for being a 60-year member of the Rising Star Masonic Lodge in Newmarket.
Upon retiring in 1978, HARRY and ELIZABETH spent many years traveling extensively to all the states and provinces of Canada, as well as countries abroad. He was a legendary horticulturist. There wasn't much that he did not try to grow and with huge success as his friends and family will attest. Many a traveler throughout the years would stop their car come summer just to view the KEENERS' Canney Road home with the colorful display of flowers along the border of their property. No one was ever a stranger to him. He always welcomed everyone with his quick, dry wit and his love of laughter.
