Joseph T. Carson, 85, executive

Joseph T. Carson, 85, formerly of Villanova, a retired chemical company president, died of complications from prostate cancer Thursday at the Quadrangle, a retirement community in Haverford.

Mr. Carson grew up in Lansdowne, graduated from St. Joseph's Preparatory School, and attended the University of Pennsylvania.

During World War II, he was a Navy bomber pilot in the Pacific and participated in the invasion of Okinawa.

After his discharge, he took over his father's ice company and in the 1950s purchased W.B. Severn Inc. in Philadelphia, a manufacturer of refrigerant gases. The firm merged with Tanner Industries in the 1980s; he stayed on as a consultant until retiring in 1993.

Mr. Carson enjoyed trapshooting and was past president of the Atlantic Indians Trapshooting Association. An accomplished golfer, he served on the board of St. David's Golf Club in Wayne. He was also a member of the Philadelphia Seniors Golf Association, Pine Tree Golf Club in Boynton Beach, Fla., and the Oyster Harbors Golf Club on Cape Cod; the Philadelphia Chemical Club; and the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick.

He was a volunteer for Meals on Wheels and the Catholic Charities Appeal.

Mr. Carson is survived by his wife of 14 years, Mary Joan Doyle Carson; a son, Timothy; daughters Kit Carson-Brennan, Marian Galardy, Christine Loesche, and Rosemary Schafer; stepchildren Katherine White, John Jeremiah, and Richard Doyle; 28 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. Mr. Carson's first wife, Marian Maloney Carson, died in 1991, and stepson Stephen Doyle died in 2006.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. today at St. John Neumann Roman Catholic Church, 380 Highland Lane, Bryn Mawr, where Mr. Carson sang in the choir for more than 30 years. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.