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Marvin Pierce (17 June 1893 – 17 July 1969) was president of McCall Corporation, the publisher of the popular women's magazines Redbook and McCall's.

Biography

He was born in Sharpsville, Pennsylvania and was a 1916 graduate of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. His ancestor, an early New England colonist, was also an ancestor of Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States. At Miami University, he was nicknamed "Monk" and was a stand-out athlete in football, basketball, baseball and tennis. He was inducted into Miami's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1972.

Pierce's first marriage was to Pauline Robinson who was born in 1896 to Ohio Supreme Court justice, James E. Robinson and died on 23 September 1949. They had four children together:

• Martha Pierce Rafferty (1920-1999)
• James Pierce (1921-1993)
• Barbara Pierce Bush (born 1925)
• Scott Pierce (born 1930) - named for his grandfather, who was an insurance salesman in Dayton, Ohio.

W magazine once described Pauline Robinson as "beautiful, fabulous, critical, and meddling" and "a former beauty from Ohio with extravagant tastes". On 23 September 1949, Pauline was killed in an automobile accident in Harrison County, New York, when Marvin, who was driving the car, lost control as he reached over to stop a cup of hot coffee from sliding across the seat onto his wife. The car crashed into a stone wall, killing Pauline instantly. She was 53 years old.

Their third child Barbara Pierce, later became the wife of the 41st President of the United States, George H.W. Bush and mother of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. Pierce's second marriage (June 1952) was to Willa Martin, an artist and Associated Press reporter.

References

• Barbara Pierce Bush National First Ladies Library