Alan Marsh

1930 - 2025

Alan Reid Marsh passed away peacefully on November 11, 2025, at the age of 95. He was a true gentleman who will long be remembered for his boundless devotion to his hometown Kansas City, his far-reaching circle of friends, and his beloved wife of 67 years, Joan Knight Marsh, and their extended family.

Alan's life took root in the mid-west when his family moved to Kansas City in 1935 for a career opportunity with Armco Steel. As a student at Southwest High School, he developed his keen interest in competitive swimming and became one of the top freestylers in the city. After his graduation in 1947, he deferred his college education for two years so that he might attend The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, where he excelled as the captain of one of the finest swimming teams in the nation. He also thrived academically at Lawrenceville, especially in math and science, and decided to pursue a degree in Civil Engineering at Stanford University, where he joined the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. Alan remained closely attached to each of his alma maters – Southwest, Lawrenceville, and Stanford – and often noted how much he valued the role they played in broadening his perspective and generating lifelong friendships that spanned the country.

After graduating from Stanford in 1953, Alan returned to Kansas City to work with the Burns & McDonnell Engineering firm for five years before joining Marsh Steel & Aluminum Company, founded by his father and two other investors. In 1969, shortly after the sale of Marsh Steel, he declined an opportunity to relocate to Chicago and decided, instead, to remain in Kansas City and embark upon a 35-year career as a stock broker and financial adviser with H. O. Peet & Co., which would become the local brokerage office for Kidder, Peabody, then Paine Webber, and finally UBS AG of Switzerland. Upon his retirement from UBS in 2004 as a Senior Vice President, Alan was widely respected for his skillful, far-sighted stewardship of his clients' investment portfolios and the great care with which he helped others achieve long-term financial security.

Alan was equally devoted to many of Kansas City's civic and cultural institutions. He served as president of the Society of Fellows of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Arts and a member of the Board of Trustees for 15 years, retiring as Trustee Emeritus. He also served on the board of the Saint Luke's Hospital Foundation for ten years and as its president for seven of those years. In 2012, he was honored with the Foundation Fellow Award for his service in support of Saint Luke's education, research, and hospital programs. As the treasurer of the board of Pembroke Country Day School, he was instrumental in advancing its transition to co-education by way of the merger with Sunset Hill School. He also made important contributions to the World War I Museum and Memorial and the Midwest Research Institute. Even his loyalty to the Kansas City Chiefs as a season ticket holder since the team's founding was an expression of his unwavering civic spirit.

To each of his endeavors and interests, Alan brought a rare combination of talents, skills, and sensibilities. With his sharp analytical mind and robust powers of concentration, he untangled complex challenges and designed solutions that he then pursued to completion with patience, self-assurance, and faith. A lifelong learner and deep reader with a particular interest in art, history, and biography, he found his own canvas for creativity in the homes that he and Joan decorated with relish and imagination. Their collection of western art was a special source of happiness for Alan that honored his Colorado heritage, beginning with his grandfather who settled in Denver upon immigrating to the United States from Scotland. Of course, anyone who had the pleasure to meet Alan knows that he was also a man of sartorial flair who was most at home in a well-tailored suit.

But above all, Alan cherished family and friends. The devotion that he poured into his marriage to Joan – the love of his life – and the raising of their sons, Reid and Clayton, flowed unabated into the lives of eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren as well as their extended families. Ever congenial and gracious, he also treasured the many friendships he cultivated as a member of the Kansas City Country Club, The River Club, where he served as president, and the Links Club in New York City as well as the Second Presbyterian Church, where he was a deacon for many years. Alan's greatest legacy will always be the example of his love and kindness that continues to inspire those who felt the embrace of his optimism, his gentle sense of humor, his mentorship, and his capacious heart.

He is survived by his wife Joan; sons Reid (Mary) and Clayton (Margaret); grandchildren Henry (Allie), Margaret, Charles (Eliza), Clayton (Audrey), Frederick (Madison), Jack (Ashley), Anna (Chris), and Robert; and three great grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at Second Presbyterian Church in Kansas City on Saturday, November 22, at 4:00 p.m. Memorial donations may be made to Saint Luke's Hospital or the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.