Robert Penn Mccuen

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE - Robert Penn McCuen, retired Director of Public Affairs, the DuPont Company and retired Captain, U.S. Navel Reserve, died on June 29, 2010. He was 91 years old.
He and his wife, Helen Melvin McCuen, both natives of Savannah, Georgia, became Wilmington residents in 1958. Their daughters and their families live in Wilmington as well. Mrs. McCuen died in November, 2003.
Mr. McCuen was a member of the first class at Armstrong Junior College in Savannah, now known as Armstrong Atlantic State University, and went on to graduate from the University of Georgia in Athens in 1939. He joined the Naval Reserve in 1940 and was commissioned an Ensign in June 1941. He was immediately assigned to active duty, a status that continued until 1945.
During World War II he served as second in command, successively, of three Navy destroyers and was awarded the Bronze Star for his performance of duty at the Normandy Invasion in June 1944. His Korean War service was as second-in-command of a destroyer engaged in that combat. While not on active Navy duty, he served as a participant in Naval Reserve activities in Georgia, South Carolina and Delaware.
Mr. McCuen's business career was devoted to corporate communications and public affairs. He was deeply involved in Wilmington community activities during the 1960-80 period, working with many organizations representing DuPont's interests and reflecting his personal involvement. He also served over the years as a member of governing bodies of many organizations including, the Greater Wilmington Development Corporation, the United Way, Americans for Competitive Enterprise System, Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Delaware, Wilmington Medical Center during its transaction to Christiana Care, Penjerdel Corporation, the Public Relations Society of America, the World Press Institute and  St. Augustine's College of Raleigh, North Carolina. He was a frequent speaker before business and professional audiences on public affairs topics.
He was a former Junior Warden and Vestryman of Christ Church Christiana Hundred and a member of the Wilmington Rotary Club, the Greenville Country Club, the St. Andrew's Society of Savannah, the Phi Beta Kappa Society and Sigma Chi fraternity.
After retiring from DuPont, Mr. McCuen served as a communications consultant to several corporations and to the Business Roundtable, a national  organization of major business executives.
He is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Richard J. Moody and Mrs. Terrence J. Conway and their husbands, two grandchildren, and one great grandson, all of Wilmington, Delaware. He is also survived by Dr. Edwin C. Shepard, his late wife, Betty's husband, and their children and a grandson, and by the children of his late brother, William P. McCuen and his late wife, Patricia, and their families.
A graveside service will be held at 10: 00 am on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, the Reverend  Gavin Dunbar officiating.  In lieu of flowers, the family suggests St. John's Episcopal Church, 1 West Macon Street, Savannah, Georgia 31401 as the recipient of any memorial gifts.