Lawrence Reynolds Pugh

Lawrence Pugh, who built VF Corp. into the largest publicly held U.S. apparel manufacturer and propelled it past Levi Strauss & Co. as the biggest jeans maker by adding Wrangler to its Lee brand, has died. He was 82. Lawrence Reynolds Pugh was born Jan. 22, 1933, in White Plains, New York. He was the son of Howard Reynolds Pugh, a banker, and the former Marjorie Slosson. He attended the Salisbury School in Salisbury, Connecticut, and in 1956 received a bachelor’s degree in administrative science from Colby College in Waterville, Maine. After graduating, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. In 1958, Pugh joined Chicago-based Borden Milk Co. as a division sales manager. In 1966, he became a product manager at the Hamilton Beach unit of Waterbury, Connecticut-based Scovill Manufacturing Co. He moved to Redwood City, California-based Ampex Corp., a maker of recording tape, as director of marketing in 1970. Two years later, he joined the Samsonite Luggage division of Chicago-based Beatrice Cos., where he was named president in 1975. Pugh moved to VF as president in 1980. He was promoted to CEO in 1982 following the death of his predecessor, Manford O. Lee. Pugh, an enthusiastic golfer, was a member of the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. He lived in Naples and Falmouth, Maine. His survivors include his wife, former Jean Van Curan, whom he married in 1956; their daughters, Deborah Pugh Kelton and Diane Pugh Esecson; and four grandsons.