McGhee Tyson Gilpin ’42

Tyson died May 7, 2000, from cancer. An internationally known and respected breeder of thoroughbred horses, he devoted his entire life after WWII to breeding, selling, racing, and syndicating horses.

Tyson prepared for Princeton at St. Paul's School, majored in English, graduating with honors, and was a member of Ivy Club. During the war, he served in army intelligence in the European theater for four years with the rank of capt. and was awarded the Purple Heart and the French Croix de Guerre for his work with the French underground. Returning after the war to Virginia, his lifelong home, he took over the presidency of the Fasig-Tipton company, a front-rank thoroughbred sales organization, and, five years later, started a company for syndicating the services of stallions for breeding.

Tyson was predeceased by his first wife, Catherine, who died in 1966. He is survived by his wife, Hortencia; his four children; M. Tyson Jr. '65, Drew Faust, Donald N. '73, and Lawrence M.; and by six grandchildren, to whom the class offers its most sincere sympathies.

The Class of 1942