Malcolm McVickar died peacefully on Oct. 10 with his loving family at his side. He was 93.

Born in 1915 in Tuxedo Park, N.Y., he was the second of four boys born to Henry Lansing and Anzonella Kane McVickar. He attended St. Mark’s School in Southboro, Harvard University and graduated from the Colombia School of Business.

The McVickar family spent many summers in their house on South Water street in Edgartown, where the boys, Malcolm and his three brothers, Kane, Grenville and Harry, spent most of their time either in or on the water. Malcolm returned with his family year after year to Edgartown, one of his favorite spots on earth.

Starting at the age of 24, he served as a lieutenant commander of the YMS-461 and other minesweepers during World War II. His fleet of six sweepers swept mines in the South Pacific. His was the only fleet not to lose a ship during a typhoon.

He returned from the war to his wife, Mardie (Martha) Lisbeth Kline and their two sons, Malcolm Jr. and Morgan. They moved to Fitchburg where their family grew to include Marcy Kane and Douglas Kane. Malcolm worked for Crocker Burbank Paper Company, then Weyerhaeuser Paper and later became president of Simpson Lee Paper in Kalamazoo, Mich. He moved the corporate headquarters and his family to San Francisco, Calif., in 1969.

After his wife and mother of his four children died in 1972, Malcolm retired from the paper business and became a commercial real estate broker.

In 1973, he married Marion Kelly Bullard, widow of Edward Bullard and mother of Jed, Liz, Esther and Brian. They lived in Kentfield, Calif.

In 1976, Malcolm, always the entrepreneur, started the Farm Energy Corporation and set out to pioneer the green movement by attempting to capture the methane gas put out by cow manure. Nearly three decades before its time, Farm Energy did not take hold.

A watercolor artist from the age of 12, Malcolm and Marion added an art studio to their garage where Malcolm, in full retirement, was able to focus on his painting. He became president of the Marin Society of Artists in Ross, Calif., and won numerous awards for his paintings over the ensuing years.

In the early 1980s, Malcolm and Marion, now with grown children out of the house, moved to St. Helena, Calif., where they spent the rest of their years. Malcolm survived Marion’s death on New Year’s Eve of 2000 and spent the rest of his years enjoying the peace and quiet of St. Helena.

No longer able to paint due to a stroke, Malcolm found a way to authentically digitally reproduce his paintings onto watercolor paper. He then set up a Web site where his paintings could be viewed and sold: McVickar.com. Please visit. In addition to an impressive collection of watercolors in various styles that he experimented with, there is beautiful text written in his own words.

Malcolm will be missed for his vast knowledge, his endless love and generosity. He was a Renaissance man who was a model of perseverance and had a knack for always finding joy in life.

He is survived by his youngest brother, Henry L. McVickar, Jr., his sons Malcolm McVickar Jr., Morgan McVickar, his daughter Marcy Madden and youngest son Douglas Kane McVickar and grandchildren, Aynsley McVickar, Morgan Kane McVickar, Sophie Morgan McVickar and Rosemary Morgan McVickar along with Marion Kelly Bullard McVickar’s children, Jed Bullard Jr, Liz Bullard Degner, Esther Bullard Sanborn, Brian Blanchard Bullard and grandchildren Ward Bullard, Wells Bullard, John Degner and Peter Degner, Zack and David Sanborn.