Joseph Hamilton McMakin OBITUARY
Joseph Hamilton McMakin OBITUARY
Joseph Hamilton McMakin, of Naples, Florida, and Allentown, Pennsylvania, passed away on December 2nd, 2025, at 79 years old. Born in Wilmington, Delaware, on January 28, 1946, he was the son of Joseph Purple McMakin and Bernadine Joan Hamilton.
Joe attended Corpus Christi Grade School and High School before graduating from the University of Delaware with a B.CH.E. in Chemical Engineering. Following graduation, he was employed by DuPont, Stauffer Chemical, and IBM in a variety of engineering, manufacturing, and sales roles.
In 1975, Joe joined Air Products and Chemicals, where he built a distinguished career progressing through numerous technical, marketing, business management, and merger and acquisition positions. He was appointed General Manager of the Performance Chemicals Division in 1990, Vice President in 1994, and Chief Information Officer for the corporation in 1996. During his tenure, he fostered several programs to advance diversity, notably championing management-level job sharing for women. He retired in late 2003.
A respected leader in his industry, Joe was a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Commercial Development Association, the Pennsylvania Governor’s Advisory Committee on Information Technology, the Research Board for Information Technology, and the Chemical Information Technology Association. He served on the Technical Advisory Board of the 3-Com Corporation and was named the CIO Choice Award Winner by the Gartner Group. Additionally, he was awarded the Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award and was published in the Kirk Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology.
Joe was committed to his community. He served on the Boards of Trustees of the Allentown YMCA, the Hillside School, and the Good Shepherd Hospital. His generous donation to the Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute helped establish the Joe and Diane McMakin Disease Identification Program, connecting more people with lifesaving cardiovascular care. He was a member of St. Thomas More RC Church and a Son of the American Revolution.
Outside of his professional and philanthropic life, Joe was an avid golfer and held memberships at Moselem Springs Golf Club, Brookside Country Club, Windstar on Naples Bay Country Club, and Lehigh Country Club. He and his wife, Diane, became ballroom dance enthusiasts in the mid-1990s, enjoying memberships in the US Amateur Ballroom Dancing Association and the Dance Cotillion Club of the Lehigh Valley.
He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Diane McMakin; his children, Sean McMakin (Kimberly McMakin) of Glenside, Dana McMakin (Christian Agudelo) of Miami, Florida, and Lauren McMakin Linn (Michael Linn) of Allentown; his stepson, Ryan Signarovitz of Philadelphia; and his grandchildren, Mairead and Nola McMakin, Austin and Jack Signarovitz, and Rafael and Lola Agudelo.
A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 1:30 P.M. at the J.S. Burkholder Funeral Home 16th and Hamilton Streets Allentown. A calling hour will be held on Saturday from 12:30 P.M. until 1:30 P.M. in the funeral home. Condolences may be offered at: www.jsburkholder.com
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be sent to the Diane and Joe McMakin Disease Identification Program at Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute or the Scholarship Fund at the Hillside School.
