WASHINGTON, D.C., 07/20/2023 – It is with great sadness that Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) announces the passing of former WSWA Chairman Brien Fox, President, Henry A. Fox Sales. Mr. Fox was a dedicated leader in the industry and served on the WSWA Board of Directors for 20 years including his 2015-2016 term as Chairman.
Beyond his work on the Board, Mr. Fox was an active member of the association including serving as the Chair of the WSWA Council for Leadership Development and the Meetings & Convention Committee, as well as Vice Chairman of the WSWA Finance & Audit Committee. Mr. Fox served on the WSWA Small Enterprise and Government Affairs Councils until his death.
“Brien’s industry leadership, business insight, and deep understanding of the beverage alcohol ecosystem made a lasting impression on his peers and our association. We at WSWA will miss him especially after his years of enthusiastic participation at every level of our governance. He will be profoundly missed by our WSWA team and membership. His passing is a terrible loss, and we offer our condolences to his family during this tragic time,” said WSWA President and CEO Francis Creighton.
Colleagues of Mr. Fox at WSWA shared their remembrances:
“Brien Fox was a tremendous leader and exemplified the best elements America’s family-owned wine and spirits wholesalers. I am lucky to have known him and tremendously saddened by his passing,” said WSWA Executive Vice President of Government Affairs Dawson Hobbs.
“I had the pleasure to get to know Brien as a competitor, leader of WSWA, committed Board member and family man. He will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with Brien’s family,” said current WSWA Chairman Tom Cole.
“Brien possessed the rare combination of infectious enthusiasm and business acumen. His positive approach to leadership and consensus building was a model for association governance. His WSWA engagement, uplifting energy and life-long friendship will be missed,” said Principal/Managing Director of Regional Sales, Horizon Beverage Doug Epstein.
“My condolences to Brien’s family for their tremendous loss. Brien was amazing to work with. He was energetic, knowledgeable, and able to clearly understand and communicate the opportunities that our wholesale tier experience. Brien’s contributions to CLD were many and his legacy is the robust and dynamic organization that he helped to build,” said Vice President The Artisan Group (TAG), Republic National Distributing Simone Bianconcini.