John W. McKinnon, 85, of Rochester Hills, died Sunday, Dec. 9, 2007. A 1940 graduate of Hazel Park High School, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was a member of the Hazel Park school board in the 1960s. In 1966 he founded and built Hughes Chemical Co. to supply adhesives and coatings to all of General Motors. In 1982 he sold his company to PPG, finally retiring in 1985. He 'embarked on a second career in racehorses, founding a broodmare farm in Morriston, Fla., and raced "Wheatley Hall" in the 1986 Kentucky Derby, placing sixth. An avid golfer, he was a charter member of Great Oaks County Club and was the chairman of the St. Jude Children's Hospital golf tournament. Beloved husband of the late Genevieve (Bland) McKinnon, whom he referred to as the "best filly in the stable," and married in 1943. She predeceased him in 1998. Dear father of Jacqueline Miller of Rochester Hills, Alex (Marcia) McKinnon of Oxford and JoAnn McKinnon of Rochester Hills. Also surviving are eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Brotherinlaw of Muriel McKinnon and Natalie McKinnon, and cousin of Mary Proudfoot. Visitation, 79 p.m. today, and 25 p.m. and 79 p.m. Wednesday at Pixley Funeral Home, 322 W. University Drive, Rochester; funeral service, 10 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home with burial at Elmwood Cemetery, Gagetown, Mich.; memorial contributions to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital would be greatly appreciated.
Published in The Daily Tribune on Dec. 11, 2007.
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