James Kenney

James (Jim) William Kenney passed away peacefully on November 14th, 2022 in Philadelphia, PA. He was 79 years old. He is survived by his wife Sandra (Sandy) Kenney and son Douglas (Doug) Kenney, as well as brothers Thomas, Charlie and Dennis. He was preceded in death by his sister Katherine Kenney Schultz.

Jim was born in 1943 in Atlanta, Georgia to parents Lucille and Charles Kenney. He spent most of his young life in Havertown Pennsylvania and graduated from Haverford High School. Jim received his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Maryland and his Master’s degree in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, where he met his wife Sandy.

Jim had a long and distinguished career as the head mechanical engineer at Drummond Scientific Company in Broomall, PA, where he worked for over 50 years. Jim was a prolific inventor during his career, filing over 20 patents, including one for his hallmark invention, the Pipet-Aid. Pipet-Aid was the first-ever motorized pipette controller, a version of which can now be found in nearly every laboratory in the world.

Jim had a lifelong love affair with boating. Early boating experiences included log canoe and sailboat racing, followed eventually by a move to a power boat. Almost every weekend from Memorial Day to Labor Day for over 30 years he could be found on the Chesapeake Bay on his Grand Banks trawler “Ariel” with his family and friends. Jim also worked diligently on a full restoration of a 1964 Chris Craft Super Sport, later named “Finally” due to the lengthy duration of the restoration process. A short film was made about this restoration by his son; you can find the video at this link (copy and paste this into your browser): https://youtu.be/gTjKWi9wSg4

Jim was dedicated to community service and was a member of the Broomall Rotary Club for over 30 years, serving as its President from 1992 to 1993. He made numerous contributions to the annual Fourth of July float, the holiday gift-giving drive, as well as scholarship efforts.

A memorial service for Jim will be held on Monday November 28th at noon at D’Anjolell Memorial Homes at 2811 West Chester Pike, Broomall, PA. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Gundaker Foundation (https://www.gundaker.org/) in Jim’s name.

Live stream via https://twitter.com/danjolell2811?s=09. Please copy and paste the link into your web browser to view stream

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