Obituary: Sam Fox, business leader and philanthropist, 95

Sam Fox, a business and civic leader who was also among St. Louis’ most prominent philanthropists, died Monday, Dec. 2, 2024, surrounded by friends and family. He was 95.

A former U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Fox was a WashU alumnus and long-serving member of the Board of Trustees. He established numerous fellowships, scholarship programs and endowed professorships and in 1998 was appointed chair of the $1.5 billion Campaign for Washington University. In recognition of his service and generosity, one of WashU’s eight schools — the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts — bears his name.

“Sam was one of WashU’s most loyal alumni,” said Chancellor Andrew D. Martin. “We benefited greatly from his savvy leadership and decades of transformational support. His legacy will endure through the profound impact he has had on St. Louis, WashU and especially the Sam Fox School. I am so grateful for the privilege of having known him.”

Born and raised in Desloge, Mo., Fox described WashU as “the place where the whole world came alive for me.” He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Olin Business School in 1951 and soon joined a brother in Fox Industries Inc., which manufactured powders for the chemical industry. He married Marilyn Fox, a University City native and fellow WashU student, in 1953.

Washington University “yanked open the curtain I didn’t know was there and revealed a world of ideas and knowledge and possibilities,” Fox said in 2018, when he and Marilyn received the Sam Fox School’s Dean’s Medal. “I’ve been filled with gratitude ever since.”

In 1976, Fox founded Harbour Group Ltd., a privately owned operating company that specializes in the acquisition and long-term development of manufacturing companies. The Olin Business School established the Sam & Marilyn Fox Scholarship in the couple’s honor in 1980. Fox also received WashU’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1986 and Olin’s Distinguished Business Alumni Award in 1988.

Fox joined the WashU board in 1989, later serving on the executive committee and a term as vice chair. In 2001, he was named emeritus trustee and, in a rare honor, was elected a lifetime voting trustee in 2004. The Sam Fox School, which combined WashU’s nationally ranked programs in art, architecture and design with its renowned Kemper Art Museum, was dedicated in 2006.

“Sam was truly one of a kind,” said Carmon Colangelo, the Ralph J. Nagel Dean of the Sam Fox School and the E. Desmond Lee Professor for Collaboration in the Arts. “While never forgetting his humble beginnings, he embodied the very best of a philanthropist, entrepreneur, businessman, husband, father and patron of the arts and culture.

“Sam’s extraordinary generosity and unwavering support of our mission have left an indelible mark,” Colangelo added. “He and Marilyn have enriched the lives of countless students, faculty and community members. He lived a truly remarkable life and has left behind an extraordinary legacy.”

From 2007-09, Fox served as ambassador to Belgium. In 2012, he became only the third American to receive Belgium’s highest award for public service, the Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown. He previously received the Marco Polo Award from the People’s Republic of China, in 2002.

In 2018, the Sam Fox School established the Sam and Marilyn Fox Professorship, currently held by Aki Ishida. Four years later, the couple permanently endowed the Sam Fox Ambassadors Graduate Fellowships, which each year provide full-tuition waivers for 10 outstanding graduate candidates, drawn from both the Graduate School of Art and the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design.

Fox served on the boards of many prominent St. Louis institutions, including the Arts & Education Council, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Opera Theatre, the Science Center, the Zoo and Civic Progress. He is former chair and president of the Greater St. Louis Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and former president of the board of the Saint Louis Art Museum.

In 2003, Fox was named the St. Louis Citizen of the Year, and he received the national Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship, among many other honors.

With Marilyn, Fox established the Fox Family Foundation, which has supported hundreds of organizations addressing basic human needs such as food and shelter.  The couple jointly received the Jane and Whitney Harris Saint Louis Community Service Award in 2004. Sam received an honorary doctorate of laws from WashU in 2002; Marilyn received an honorary doctorate in the humanities in 2013.

Fox is survived by his daughter Pamela Fox Claman (Aba) and by sons Jeff (Lotta) and Steven (Nan). Marilyn, his wife of seven decades, died earlier this year, as did their daughter Cheri. Their son Greg died in 2016. Other survivors include 15 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will begin at 1:15 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8, at Congregation Temple Israel in Creve Coeur, Mo. Afterward, the Fox family will hold shiva for Sam Fox from 5-9:30 p.m. in Kuehner Court in the Sam Fox School’s Weil Hall. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the charity of one’s choice.