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| Affiliation | Republican |
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| Name | Sam Fox |
| Address |
, Missouri , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
May 09, 1929
(95 years)
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| Contributor | RBH |
| Last Modifed | Juan Croniqueur
Apr 07, 2023 12:26am |
| Tags |
Jewish -
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| Info | The son of Russian immigrants, Sam Fox was born in Desloge, Missouri, in 1929. He was the youngest of seven children. Their home had running water and two stoves for heat, but there was no heat in the bedrooms. Fox remembers going to bed in the winter and being able to see his breath. He was eight years old when his parents had flush toilets installed. Even though they lived without many modern conveniences, Fox has fond memories of his youth. "We all looked out for each other," he says. "No one locked their doors, and I didn't even own a house key until I was an adult. The radio was our connection with the outside world. We lived modestly, but we had a roof over our heads and food on the table so we had enough."
Fox's father traded in hides and furs, and later changed to produce. "My father never had much financial success," says Fox, "but he was a hard working, happy person who never saw the downside of anything. My mother was one of the most caring women I have ever known and never had an unkind word for anyone. She had little formal education, but she was dedicated to her family and neighbors. My parents always shared what little they had and would tell us an old saying: 'If you're not a beggar, give to a beggar'."
For three summers, beginning when he was 15, Fox and a few of his friends took a Greyhound bus to a canning factory in Illinois for the summer. They made 80 cents an hour canning peas and corn, and lived in a barracks. At the end of the summer, they collected their pay and went home. Fox put all his earnings in the bank for college.
"I had never thought much about my future," says Fox. "But my sister Esther, who was 16 years older and practically a second mother to me, really stressed the importance of a college education. And by the time I started at Washington University, Esther was married and living in St. Louis. So I lived with her, which saved me the expense of room and board."
Like his father, Fox searched out entrepreneurial opportunities as he made his way through school. He sold Fuller brushes and collected burlap bags from feed stores and sold them to a contractor who needed them for a construction project. During the Korean War, when construction steel was precious, he collected structural steel I-beams at various wrecking sites, had them assembled by a welder, and delivered building-ready materials to a man building a bridge on his private property. That enterprise paid a year's tuition as well as some living expenses.
Washington University changed Fox's life. "Growing up in a small Missouri town during the Depression," he says, "we were isolated. We had one mediocre newspaper. Television hadn't been invented. Our town didn't have a library. So when I got to college it was as if someone had flipped on a light switch."
Fox graduated with honors in 1951, earning a degree in business. He joined his two brothers in a manufacturing business they had started near St. Louis, making powdered iron for the chemical industry. "My brother Irv was an absolute genius at all aspects of manufacturing," says Fox. "It was Irv who infused me with a love for manufacturing." But when Irv became ill, the business was sold. On his own, Fox started Harbour Group in 1976. The privately owned company acquires, consolidates, and develops manufacturing companies for long-term investment.
Sam Fox's advice to young people is to select a career based on interest rather than money. "If you get into a job and don't like it, get out," he says. "Don't be afraid to change jobs. If you enjoy what you do, you'll never think of work as a chore." At the same time, Fox stresses the importance of a balanced life. "Live life to the fullest," he says, "but keep it balanced between work, giving back to the community, and spending time with your family."
Fox has served as a Trustee of Washington University, his alma mater, since 1989. He helped the school raise $1.5 billion and the university is naming its new School of Design and Visual Arts in his honor.
"I believe in what I call active-duty citizenship," Fox says in explaining his many civic endeavors. "My parents always talked about how blessed we were to live in America. When we cherish the gift of freedom and give back to our communities, when we reach out to one another and help those in need, we make this a better nation."
When asked about his Horatio Alger Award, Fox says he is honored and humbled. "But I never saw my humble beginnings as adversity," Fox stresses. "I wasn't handicapped by my beginnings. It was a privilege to have been raised in Desloge. And I attribute much of my success to my Washington University education and a few lucky breaks, the luckiest being my wife."
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