Virgil Marson ’48

Virgil Marson ’48, of Naples, Fla., formerly of North Hampton, N.H.; Oct. 2. Before attending Brown, where he was captain of the football team, he served in the U.S. Army. During a bombing mission he became a prisoner of war for a year and received the Purple Heart. After graduating, he cofounded The Andover Shop, men’s clothing shops in both Andover, Mass., and Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass. In the late 1960s he began pilgrimages to the U.K. to work with weavers in Ireland and Scotland’s Shetland Islands to produce tweeds of his own design, eventually becoming known as The Prince of Tweeds.  He dressed presidents and celebrities. An avid theater enthusiast, he would travel to Manhattan to attend Broadway shows and frequent jazz clubs. He is survived by a daughter; a son; a son-in-law; a grandson; two sisters; and companion, Sheila Mahoney.