Robert Eugene McKee Sr. (1889–1964) was an American construction contractor and founder of the Robert E. McKee General Contractor, Inc. company.
Life and career
McKee was born in Chicago at a young age he and his family moved to St. Louis. His father was accidentally killed when he was ten years old. McKee received his education from the Manual Training School of Washington University. After school he left St. Louis to live on his uncle's ranch in Elk, New Mexico. After a short stay at the ranch he moved to El Paso, Texas in 1910 to begin his career in the construction and engineering field. on September 20, 1911, he married Gladys Evelyn Woods the two would go on to have eight children. In 1913 he started his namesake construction company. His company quickly grew completing many projects in El Paso including the Knickerbocker Apartments. His company would later begin to expand opening additional offices in Dallas, Santa Fe, Los Angeles and Honolulu. McKee grew his company to build many large scale projects including hospitals, high-rises and government buildings other specialties included military installations including the Panama Canal Zone and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The stature of McKee as a contractor led to many clients including Conrad Hilton, and the United States Government. In 1950 McKee incorporated his company as Robert E. McKee General Contractor Inc. until that time he had been the largest individual contractor in the United States. After incorporating the company would grow to be the sixth largest construction company in the country.[1] For the company's work at Los Alamos, New Mexico the employees were presented the Army-Navy "E" Award for excellence. The company was later managed by McKee's son Robert E. McKee Jr.[2] McKee's wife Gladys died in 1960, McKee then remarried to Mary Grace Ross.
McKee died in El Paso on October 21, 1964, at the age of 75.[1][3] After his death the company continued to build many large scale projects across the United States. The company was acquired by Santa Fe Industries in 1972. The McKee Construction Company would continue as a subsidiary of Santa Fe Industries.[4] During the 1970s the company went under the name REMCON.[5] In 1987 the McKee company was sold to Jacobs Engineering Group.
^"El Pasoan Will Build 12-Story Hilton Edifice". San Angelo Morning Times. 1928-06-22. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
^ a b c d"McKee Foundation". www.mckeefoundation.org. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
^"Plaza Hotel Renovation". Jordan Foster Construction. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
^Murphree (NW), Rachel. "Library Research Guides: Borderlands: Robert E. McKee: From Rags to Riches to Philanthropy 30 (2012-2013)". epcc.libguides.com. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
^"Wayback Machine" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
^ a b c"PCAD - McKee, Robert E., Inc., Building Contractors". pcad.lib.washington.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
^"12 Feb 1938, 7 - The Honolulu Advertiser at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
^"Nevada State Journal 12 Jan 1951, page Page 12". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-12-19.