Martin Beresford was born in London on July 4, 1937 and was evacuated to Somerset during the Blitz in World War II. In 1948 he won a county scholarship to Merchant Taylors’ School, where he was captain of rugby and boxing, a sergeant in the CCF, played violin, and won a scholarship in classics to St. John’s College, Oxford. 

After serving as a Lieutenant and Platoon Commander in the Parachute Regiment, he studied PPE at Oxford University, where he won a Boxing Blue and was a member of Vincent’s Club. He lived mainly overseas, but maintained a huge respect for Merchant Taylors’, played rugby for the OMTs, and enjoyed lifelong friendships with many of his MTS classmates, largely through the once-infamous Rollers’ Club. 

Martin began his business career in consumer marketing, as a research analyst with Attwood Statistics, as a Brand Manager in Procter & Gamble and as a Marketing Director in Schweppes, and subsequently as a management consultant with McKinsey in London, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, where he developed a growing interest in Japanese culture and Zen Buddhism. He spoke and read Japanese and published widely on the Japanese economy, corporate strategy and economic development. During the jeans boom, he worked with Levi Strauss in Japan, Europe and San Francisco, where he became a US citizen and developed a strong interest in technology and capital markets. 

While with Levi’s, he completed his doctoral thesis on Japan’s foreign direct investment, and in 1985 he joined the financial sector as a General Manager with S.G. Warburg, as a Vice President with Morgan Stanley, as President of Nichibei America, specializing in US-Japan technology and capital flows, and as a director of KMV Corporation, a San Francisco financial technology startup, where he was head of KMV Asia in Tokyo. He retired in 2002 when KMV was acquired by Moody’s. 

While at MTS, he declined confirmation in the Church of England, and spent much of his life seeking alternative insights into the mysteries of creation, consciousness and responsibility. In London, he was active in the Society for Psychical Research and in the European Movement, and he maintained a lifelong interest in European unity. He was a life member of the Parachute Regiment Association, and in San Francisco he was active in the Queen’s Club, an association of military officers supporting veterans’ causes, and as a volunteer with the Veterans’ Hospital. He served as a director of the Japan Society of Northern California and as International Committee chairman in the SF Chamber of Commerce. He was a director of the Marina Community Association and the Presidio Planning Association, and published “A Brief History of the Presidio” and “Defending the Presidio”. He supported libertarian causes including the Cato Institute, and published “Civilization and Commitment”, an essay on cultural relativism. A strong admirer of Israel, he supported pro-Israel causes, published “The Arab-Israeli Conflict” and “Why Support Israel?” and served as a volunteer on IDF bases in Israel with Volunteers for Israel. 

An advanced hang glider pilot, he was active in the US Hang Gliding Association and local hang gliding clubs, and published “Flying Geezer - Hang Gliding at 70” and “Riding on the Wind”, a book of haiku. A marathon runner, he also loved skiing, sailing, dancing, music, poetry, cats and wine. He enjoyed visual arts and published “A Layman’s Look at Contemporary Art”. He played tuba, sang with the Tokyo International Singers, and he was formerly an amateur boxer. He enjoyed many friendships around the world, and is survived by his sister, Susan Marshall, and his wife Masae Matsumoto, with whom he fell in love on the ski slopes at Naeba, Japan.

Martin's photos of his adventures may be viewed on:

https://martinberesford.smugmug.com/