Keehn Service Corporation, a fabrication and service organization that serves the propane and chemical transportation and delivery equipment industries, announces the acquisition of the firm by Jonathan P Willard and Stephen J Kovacic Jr.
Jonathan Willard, now third-generation owner, assumes the role of president; preceded by his father Richard Willard and grandfather Dick Willard. Kovacic, who will serve as vice-president, has been the company’s full-time engineer since 2006 and has been performing DCE work for Keehn since the early 1990s.
In 1962, while working at The Downingtown Iron Works, William Keehn was involved in building propane delivery trucks. Shortly thereafter, the Iron Works decided to discontinue this service and in the late 1960s, he incorporated Keehn Service and was joined by Dick Willard (also a former Downingtown Iron Works employee). Dick Willard is credited with adding propane transport repair and modifications for the new company.
During this period, Keehn Service qualified for and obtained its ASME Code stamp, enabling the company to become an all-inclusive repair facility, with the capability to perform repairs and alterations to MC-330/331 pressure vessels.
In 1985, the two men sold Keehn Service Corp to their sons Butch Keehn and Richard Willard and two other Keehn employees, Rod Seibert and Bill Robb. The new owners carried on the company’s philosophy, acquiring new customers and diversifying into new chemical commodities such as hydrogen peroxide, anhydrous ammonia, and dimethyl ether. New business segments were also added: ISO containers, storage tank repairs, and occasional rail car repair.
With the retirement of Robb in 2006 and Richard Willard in 2012, it was evident that ownership of Keehn Service would be shifted to a new group.