Thomas Hoving

Thomas Pearsall Field Hoving was born in New York City on Jan. 15, 1931, the elder child of Walter Hoving, a renowned merchandiser who was president of Bonwit Teller and then chairman of Tiffany & Company, and Mary Osgood Field Hoving, a descendant of Samuel Osgood, the first postmaster general of the United States. His parents divorced when he was 5, and he and his sister, Petrea, grew up in Manhattan. Mr. Hoving graduated from Princeton summa cum laude, winning honors for a thesis on architectural history. After three years in the Marines, he announced his intention to pursue a graduate degree in art history, but his father refused to give him money for it. So instead, he won a fellowship. He earned a master’s, then a doctorate, in art history. Besides his wife Nancy, Mr. Hoving is survived by his sister, Petrea Hoving Durand, of Manhattan; his daughter, also named Petrea, who is known as Trea, and three granddaughters.