Robert Kerr Obituary

KERR, Robert Beaufort, SC-Robert Airdrie Kerr, 85, husband of Twyliah Hamstreet Kerr, died Thursday, May 19, 2005, at Beaufort Memorial Hospital. Memorial services will be 10:00 AM, Monday, May 23, 2005 at St. Helena's Episcopal Church. Interment will follow in St. Helena's Episcopal Church Cemetery. Mr. Kerr was born May 15, 1920, in Haverstaw, New York, a son of William Abercrombie and Edna Cooper Kerr. Following graduation from Hamilton College in 1940, he entered the United States Naval Reserve and was commissioned an Ensign. As executive officer of the destroyer USS Goff during World War II, he saw action in the North Atlantic and took part in the landings at Palermo, Salerno and Normandy. He was recalled to active duty during the Korean War and served as executive officer of the destroyer USS Beale. He was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1955 with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Following World War II, Mr. Kerr joined the Irving Trust Company in New York where he rose to the position of Senior Vice President in charge of the Wall Street and National Divisions. In 1968, he became President of the Winters National Bank in Dayton, Ohio. He was subsequently named Chairman and CEO of Winters National Corporation and, upon the merger of Winters into Banc One Corporation in 1983, he became Chairman of Bank One, Dayton and a director of Banc One Corporation. Mr. Kerr was actively involved with numerous community and civic organizations in Dayton. He also served as a director of Dayton Power & Light, Elder Beerman Stores, the Cincinnati branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Union Corporation and Ameribanc Investors Corp. Mr. Kerr was for many years a trustee of Hamilton College and the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. Upon his retirement from Bank One in 1984, Mr. Kerr and his wife, relocated to Beaufort, SC. Mr. Kerr served as a founding director of the Savings Bank of Beaufort County, FSB. His many interests included woodworking, genealogy, the study of astronomy and natural science, and the piano. In 2003, he published a novel, Destiny's Bequests. Surviving in addition to his of his wife of 49 years are: three sons, William A. Kerr of New York City, Robert A. Kerr, Jr. of Sullivan's Island, South Carolina and Alexander K Kerr, of Los Angeles; and three grandchildren. The family suggests that memorial contributions be made to The Preservation Trust for Historic St. Helena's Episcopal Church, Inc, Post Office Box 1043, Beaufort, South Carolina 29901 or Beaufort Memorial Hospital, Post Office Box 2233, Beaufort, South Carolina 29901. Visit our guestbook at www.charleston.net/deaths.