Bernard “Barney” Kane, Jr.

Bernard “Barney” James Kane, Jr. passed away at his home in Atlantic Beach, in the company of his family on Monday, March 27, 2017. His wife of sixty-one years, Marianna, was at his bedside.

Barney was born in New York City on September 22, 1932 to Helen and Bernard J. Kane, Sr. He attended Power Memorial High School in New York City, before joining the Christian Brothers in 1947. He was trained as a teacher and completed a BS degree at Iona College in 1954. Soon afterward, Barney left the Brothers to study Organic Chemistry at Adelphi University, where he was awarded a Master’s degree in 1956. At Adelphi, Barney met and fell in love with Marianna Masiello, who was then studying for her Master’s degree in Biology. In August 1955, they were married in the Bronx.

The family moved to Jacksonville Beach in 1957 upon Barney’s accepting a position as a Research Chemist at the, then, Naval Stores Division of the Glidden Company (now called Symrise). Over his forty-one years of service, he wrote numerous papers, was awarded 29 patents and made many other valuable contributions that benefited the company. Barney retired in February, 1998 in the position of Principal Scientist. Because of his efforts, the company’s Jacksonville research facility was renamed, the “Bernard J. Kane Laboratory”.

Post retirement, Barney actively gave back to the Beaches community as a volunteer with the Friends of the Beaches Library, Habitat for Humanity and the Baptist Medical Center-Beaches, Cardiac Rehabilitation program.

Barney loved the ocean. He spent many hours fishing from the beach or from his kayak. He was a fixture at his beach access in Atlantic Beach, and worked to make it an attractive setting for all in the neighborhood. He is fondly remembered by his neighbors as the “mayor of Third Street”.

He is survived by his wife, Marianna; sons, Philip (Kathleen) and Gerard (Anne); daughters, Ellen Cage (Colin), Marian Kane (Chris Van Hoof) and Roberta O’Sullivan (Joseph); daughter-in-law, Joann Kane;  siblings, Patricia Gallagher (Frank), Helene Sears, Theresa Gershberg, Mary Keenan (Edward) and Lawrence Kane (Patricia); eleven grandchildren, Graham (Catherine), Alexander (Hurley), Austen, Adrienne, Caroline, Lucas, Max, Samuel, Peter, Connor and Cian; one great grandchild (Hailey); and, more than thirty nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his son, Steven; sister, Elizabeth; and brothers, Joseph and John.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, April 1st at St. Paul’s Catholic Church of Jacksonville Beach, FL.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Friends of the Beaches Library, the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTM NERR) or the Christian Brother's Foundation.