Robert James McKay

Robert James McKay was born on October 29, 1932 in Waterbury, CT and died on October 4, 2025 in Jupiter, FL. Robert J. (Bob) McKay was born in Waterbury, CT, in October, 1932, the first of two children of Kenneth and Emma (Goyette) McKay. He graduated from Sacred Heart High School in 1950, attended the University of Connecticut’s Waterbury branch for one year, and then went to Holy Cross College. While at Holy Cross he was a Student Government Officer and Chairman of the Purple Key Society, the school’s spirit organization. Bob graduated from Holy Cross in the Class of 1955, Cum Laude. Then followed three years in the US Navy, at sea on the destroyer escort the USS Coolbaugh and then on shore duty in Newport, Rhode Island, reaching the final rank of Lieutenant. Bob then attended Harvard Business School, graduating in 1960. He entered the New York advertising world working as an Account Executive at Benton & Bowles. It was during this time that he met and married Elizabeth Grady, who was to be his much-loved wife for the next sixty years. By the year 1970, Bob had worked for three advertising agencies, one corporation, bought and sold a business and was managing a private venture capital firm. In the 1970’s, he took a sabbatical from business after an appointment to the Peace Corps as Director of Volunteer Recruitment. He, his wife Liz, and their three children spent the next two years living in the Washington, DC area, then returned to their Greenwich, Connecticut home. In the years following, Bob was self-employed and worked as a business consultant, built homes and condominiums, and served on corporate boards. He has been an active alumnus of Holy Cross College, serving for years as a Class Chairman and as an enthusiastic contributor to that institution. Bob was a long-time member of the Milbrook Club in Greenwich where he played tennis, golf and paddle tennis avidly. He continued his enthusiasm for golf later in life as a member of the Jonathan’s Landing Club in Jupiter, Florida. Bob is survived by his two daughters, Elizabeth Field (Stephen) and Mary Patricia McKay. A Funeral Mass will be held at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Palm Beach Gardens, FL on Thursday, October 16th at 12:00pm.

Robert James McKay

October 29, 1932 - October 4, 2025