Hugh Auchincloss Thacher

07/22/1948 - 07/22/2024

Hugh Auchincloss Thacher died peacefully at home in the arms of his loving wife in Ojai, California on July 22, 2024, his 76th birthday. Hugh was preceded in death by his father Thomas Thacher, his mother Barbara Auchincloss Thacher, and his brother Thomas Day Thacher. He is survived by his wife Eliana Mary Thacher (nee Makhlouf), his sisters Barbara Plimpton and Elizabeth Hawn, his brothers Peter and Andrew Thacher, seven nieces and nephews, and twelve great nieces and nephews. While a long battle with a Parkinsonian-like disease eventually stole his booming voice, physical hardship never bested Hugh's sense of humor, enduring kindness, gratitude to his caregivers, loyalty to family and friends, and love of mischief, the Grateful Dead, fly fishing and the Yankees. Born in 1948, Hugh grew up in the Riverdale neighborhood of New York surrounded by a large family, dogs, and lifelong friends. He attended Riverdale Country Day School, North Country School, Westminster School and Lake Forest College. After graduating college, the prevailing counterculture drew him to San Francisco, where he embraced (and was embraced by) the West Coast branch of the Thacher family. In 1975, Hugh founded the San Francisco Wine Exchange, one of the first wine marketing companies focused on the then nascent California wine industry. The SFWE built countless small family-owned producers into respected and recognized global brands. When he sold the company in 2015, it was the oldest independent wine marketing company in the United States, with a global reach that included a suspicious number of Hugh's favorite fly fishing destinations. Memorial services will be held in early December 2024 at the Old First Presbyterian Church in San Francisco where Hugh was a long-standing member. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a gift in Hugh's name to GLIDE (www.glide.org/give/), where he regularly volunteered.

Published by San Francisco Chronicle from Jul. 30 to Jul. 31, 2024.