Marcus Albyn Fields died at his home, The 1892 House in Pomaria, S.C., on January 1. Marcus Albyn Fields, 89, is son of Marcus C. and Annie Dean Fields.

Born and raised in Pinellas County, Florida, despite being a scion of a pioneer family to that state and a ‘Gator’ fan, Dr. Fields nevertheless found the home of his heart in South Carolina. As a young veteran of the Korean Conflict and Ft. Bliss, he found work first with Pan American World Airways on the U.S. military’s Long Range Missile project until NASA took it over. Besides his later career work, he maintained a lifetime interest in history, in patriotic history in particular — he was a founding member of the SAR chapter in Newberry and a commander of a SCV chapter in N.C.; he had a passion for art; music, opera particularly; he was an original sponsor of the Newberry Opera House; architecture; politics; poetry; homeopathic medicine; old books; Southern cooking — along with other community interests which he supported with the same energy and talent that he gave to his business affairs. Early into the resort /land development business with American Lakes and Land, he moved on to become the president of Pinehurst, in N.C. in the ‘80s; later, the directing V.P. of the Boca Raton Hotel and Resort, in Florida. Later still, many other resorts came under his management until retiring in 1999 from that area of expertise. As a change of pace, for the past 20 years, Dr. Fields had been commuting to Florida as a consultant for Metabolic Research Institute.

A Methodist, his home church New Hope UMC, he believed that there must be a place in Southern society for the respecting-all and the broadly educated Christian worker. He loved his cats and his dogs and his home and being read aloud to.

For 59 years he was married to Elsie Caldwell Fields, who survives him, along with a niece, Katherine Watts (Christopher) in Canton, NY., a nephew in Savannah and a brother-in-law, H.D. Caldwell of Florida and many fond acquaintances.

The family wishes to express their thanks to the services of the MSA Hospice of Newberry County, whose efforts to care and comfort are above and beyond the expectations of duty.