Arthur William Dills Mckee

Cashiers - Arthur William Dills McKee, 62, of Cashiers, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, October 25, 2014. He was on his way to a bicycle ride with friends.

He is survived by his wife, Anne Woodward McKee, and two children, Cristin Anne McKee of King City, California, and Woodward Hampton McKee of Asheville, and also by his sister Ann McKee Austin of Cashiers and brother and sister-in law Ernest Lyndon McKee III and Jennifer of the Pine Creek Community. Relatives also include his nephew Jeffrey Austin of Durham and wife Coby; cousin Will McKee of Cashiers and wife Becky, along with their daughters Rebecca and Elizabeth; Brien Peterkin of Cashiers and wife Sallie, along with their children Mary, Amanda, and Brien; and cousins William H. McKee, Robert Webster, and Lisa Thomen.

McKee was the son of Ernest Lyndon McKee Jr. and Ernestine Noe McKee Pope; the grandson of Ernest Lyndon McKee Sr. and Gertrude Dills McKee; and the grandson of Ernest and Ann Noe.

He was born in Asheville on November 20, 1951. He was a student at Gibbons Hall and graduated from Admiral Farragut Academy. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before making Cashiers his permanent home in the early 1970s.

McKee was president and founder of McKee Properties, Inc., the area’s leading broker of premier properties. He has been a leader in real estate development since the 1970s. His projects have included Sheep Laurel at High Hampton, Chestnut Square, Cedar Creek Racquet Club, Headwaters Golf Club, Snowbird, Sassafras Ridge, Little Sheepcliff, and Arrowhead, all in the Cashiers area. He also developed Strauss Park in Brevard.

McKee developed Wade Hampton Golf Club on High Hampton family land in partnership with his sister Ann McKee Austin. Golf Digest selected the Tom Fazio-designed course the best new private golf course in the country in 1987 and has consistently ranked it among the top 20 best American courses. McKee was a leader of many civic projects over the years. He and his wife Anne were among the founding parents of the Hampton Learning Center, the first independent pre-kindergarten and early elementary school in the area. He also supported Anne in establishing the Cashiers Area Humane Society. McKee played an integral role in the founding of the Cashiers Medical Center.

He was a founder of the Cashiers Community Fund, an affiliate of the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, on whose board he served. His early vision to identify key mountain properties whose preservation would be essential to Cashiers’ identity resulted in the formation of the Village Conservancy, whose affiliates included the Village Green, the Cashiers Historical Society, and the McKinney Meadow. Most recently, he and tennis legend Andy Roddick founded the Mountain Challenge, a tennis exhibition to fund the Boys and Girls Club of the Plateau, which opened this September in Cashiers and already benefits more than 125 children in the Cashiers community.

Reflecting his love of the outdoors, he was a founding member of both the Friends of Panthertown and the Friends of Whiteside and a principal driver behind the creation of the Tour de Cashiers bicycle ride. He was a member of the Carolina Climbers Coalition and worked with it to purchase Laurel Knob and dedicate it to the climbing community.

He was often found on his bicycle in the mountains around Cashiers. He was an avid mountain climber, having completed ascents of the major rock faces of North Carolina, including Whiteside, Looking Glass, Cow Rock, and Laurel Knob. He also summited Grand Teton in Wyoming, the east face of Mt. Whitney in California, the Crestone Needle in Colorado, and El Pico de Orizaba in Mexico, the third highest peak in North America. He was member of the Glenville-Cashiers Rescue Squad High Angle Team, with which he assisted in a midnight rescue on Whiteside Mountain only days before his death. McKee was an expert snow skier and longtime member of the Sapphire Valley Division of the National Ski Patrol. He was a mentor to many area young people on the slopes.

He was a member of the High Hampton Colony Club, Cedar Creek Racquet Club, Wade Hampton Golf Club, Headwaters Golf Club, Chattooga Club, Lonesome Valley, Kiawah Island Club, and Pine Valley Golf Club of New Jersey. He was a former longtime member of the Biltmore Forest Country Club.

The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made in his memory to the Boys and Girls Club of the Plateau, P.O. Box 1812, Cashiers, N.C. 28717.

Bryant Grant Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences are available by visiting bryantgrantfuneralhome.com or by email.