Amb Sam Fox
Founder
Harbour Group, Ltd
Laureate 2006
Sam Fox had the kind of boyhood few American children have anymore. He was born and raised in a small Missouri town called Desloge. Like a lot of families in those days – Sam grew up during the Great Depression of the 1930s – the Foxes didn’t have much money. Sam’s home didn’t have a flush toilet until he was eight. But no one in Desloge had much, and Sam loved growing up there. No one ever locked their door, and he got to ride horses and hunt and fish. In the summer of the year he turned 15, Sam and several buddies got jobs at a factory in northern Illinois where he earned 80 cents an hour canning peas and corn. The factory operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week; the work week averaged 100 hours. Sam worked at that job for three summers in all and used his savings to help get an education at Washington University in St. Louis. Washington University changed Sam’s life. The professors and the books he read unlocked the whole world to him, he often says. The experience helped convince him of the importance of education for all young people. Sam graduated from college with a degree in business, with honors. After working for a while with two of his brothers, he started Harbour Group Ltd., the company he still runs. Harbour Group has an outstanding record of acquiring and building high-quality companies – nearly 150 to date. Sam believes strongly that all American citizens should become active in their local community, and contribute both their time and money to whatever extent they can. Sam’s own activities have included service as president of the Saint Louis Art Museum, president of the Boy Scouts in St. Louis, and vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of Washington University in St. Louis. Sam, his wife, Marilyn, and their three sons and two daughters also donate generously to charities, in part through their Fox Family Foundation.
Select a button below to see how you or your organization can get involved with Junior Achievement of Greater St. Louis, Inc..
Donate Volunteer Request A Program