12/05/2024

Sam Fox, a noted St. Louis philanthropist, former Ambassador to Belgium, and generous donor to Saint Louis University, died Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. He was 95. 

Fox was chairman and chief executive officer of Harbour Group Ltd. In 2007 he was named the ambassador to Belgium. Fox was known throughout the region for his donations to various causes and groups, including SLU. 

Fox served as the chairman of the Fox Family Foundation, president of the board of commissioners of the St. Louis Art Museum and president of the Greater St. Louis Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He was involved in several community organizations, including the St. Louis Muny Opera, the St. Louis Zoo, the St. Louis Science Center, the Arts and Education Council of St. Louis and Civic Progress.

His contributions to the area were recognized by SLU in 2000. The University honored Sam and his late wife Marilyn Fox with honorary degrees in public service at the May 2000 commencement ceremony.

"The author and turn-of-the-century publisher Elbert Hubbard wrote that ‘Some men succeed by what they know; some by what they do; and a few by what they are,’ the commencement citation said. “Sam Fox is that rare combination of all three — a man with knowledge, skill and the personal integrity to achieve his goals and to set a standard for civic commitment.”

The accolade was one of many for Fox. He was named Washington University’s Distinguished Alumni Award and its Distinguished Business Alumni Award. He has been named the St. Louis Master Entrepreneur of the Year and has received the St. Louis Business Journal “Enterprise Award” and the Beta Gamma Sigma Medallion for Entrepreneurship. Fox also was the Clayton Chamber of Commerce’s “Businessperson of the Year,” and he received the Missouri Republican Party Spirit of Enterprise Award.

The legacy of Sam and Marilyn Fox continues at SLU. The annual Atlas Week program was named in their honor in 2009. Atlas Week is designed to bring together members of the SLU community to focus on the global challenges that confront the world in the 21st century. The Atlas Program was launched in the spring of 2001 to recognize the international dimension of Saint Louis University's academic programs and to celebrate SLU's role in international education and service in light of our Jesuit tradition. 

The same year the Atlas program was named after the Foxes, the couple received the Sword of Ignatius Loyola from SLU — the University’s highest honor. The Sword of Ignatius Loyola Award is named for the founder of the Society of Jesus, Inigo Lopez de Loyola, and is infrequently awarded. 

Funeral services will be at 1:15 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8, at Congregation Temple Israel in Creve Coeur. Burial will be private. Shiva will be observed from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8, at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at One Brookings Drive on the Washington University Danforth Campus.