In their nearly four decades together, Steve and Peggy Fossett stood as devoted partners in adventure and philanthropy. Known for his unwavering passion for the boldest of sports, Steve Fossett is celebrated as one of the world’s foremost adventurers on land, sea, and sky. Peggy Fossett stood as her husband’s steadfast partner and champion, with a private collection of jewels serving as everlasting mementos of a remarkable, globe-trotting life.
Born in Tennessee in 1944, Steve Fossett possessed an early love for adventure. An avid Boy Scout—Fossett would later receive the organization’s distinguished Silver Buffalo Award—he came of age exploring and climbing in California. “When I was twelve years old I climbed my first mountain,” he explained in later years, “and I just kept going, taking on more diverse and grander projects.” These grander projects came to include not only a prodigious business career, but an unmatched record in pushing the limits of the human experience with the natural world. As a student at Stanford University, Fossett traversed the mountains of Europe and swam the Dardanelles. After graduating with an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, he entered into a number of professional ventures, most notably as a commodities salesman in Chicago. By the 1980s, Fossett had founded his own firm focusing on commodities exchange memberships; in the years to come, he utilized the tremendous success of his business to fund the pursuit of adventure.
“Fossett’s life,” wrote Jerry Adler of Newsweek, “is a tribute to mankind’s enduring dream of escaping the friction-bound Earth into effortless flight…” Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Fossett became known around the world as the man with an indefatigable belief in his own potential, setting record after record in multiple sports. As an aviator, his renown was unparalleled: Fossett became the first person to fly solo non-stop around the world in a balloon; completed five non-stop circumnavigations of the Earth; set multiple glider records; and completed the longest flight by any aircraft in history, among other achievements. By the time of his death in 2007, Fossett had achieved over ninety world records certified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, in addition to over twenty world records as a sailor. Not since Charles Lindbergh had an American adventurer so fully captured the public imagination: here was a business executive who, with steadfast perseverance, demonstrated the limitless potential of the human spirit. As his wife, Peggy, wrote, “Steve Fossett does not believe in unconquerable obstacles; he believes that there are no barriers that can’t be broken….”
From their marriage in 1968, Peggy Fossett stood alongside her husband in the pursuit of adventure. “I am proud,” she declared, “to be his wife, supporter, and a member of the crew.” A native of St. Louis, Mrs. Fossett largely avoided her husband’s media spotlight, focusing her energies on building a lasting legacy in philanthropy. Mrs. Fossett provided significant financial support and personal leadership to organizations including the International Music Foundation, the Vail Valley Foundation, the Boy Scouts of America, Chicago’s Adler Planetarium, Washington University in St. Louis, and Webster University, where she served on the board of trustees.
Following her husband’s death, Mrs. Fossett continued to honor his achievements through the Peggy and Steve Fossett Foundation. Today, as new generations take to the sea and sky, the Fossetts’ legacy continues to resonate—a lasting reminder of the power of possibility.