William Frederick "Fritz" Kussin Jr., a fifth-generation Concord resident who ran a Main Street shop for 45 years, died Aug. 27 at age 93. The town named him its Honored Citizen in 2006.

Kussin was a descendant of the Alcott family. His mother, Louisa Alcott Kussin, was a granddaughter of Anna Alcott Pratt, the elder sister of Louisa May Alcott and the inspiration for the character Meg in "Little Women." He was born Jan. 29, 1933, and grew up in the town his family had called home for five generations.

He graduated from The Fenn School, Middlesex School and Harvard College. At a Harvard dance, he met Georgine "Gigi" Spencer Lord. They married in 1957. After college, where he participated in ROTC, Kussin served two years in the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant.

He returned to Concord in 1961 to help run The Concord Children's Shop on Main Street, a business his parents owned. He and Gigi took it over and operated it together for 45 years, according to The Concord Bridge.

"Fritz just enjoyed people," said Maynard Forbes, who owned the former West Concord 5 & 10. "Retail is people: the people that work for you and the people who you work for — your customers."

Forbes remembered Kussin as a mentor to local merchants.

Kussin served as president of the Concord Chamber of Commerce and was named Concord's Businessperson of the Year in 1996. He volunteered delivering Meals on Wheels and at Emerson Hospital. For years, he played Santa Claus at the town's annual holiday tree lighting.

He also served on the board of Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House, the former Alcott family home and museum on Lexington Road. Jan Turnquist, executive director of Orchard House, said Kussin was a steady supporter during a period when the building needed millions of dollars in structural repairs.

When Gigi's health began to fail in 2003, according to the family, daughters Louisa and Karen eventually took over the shop. They renamed it Fritz & Gigi's in their parents' honor. Gigi died in 2006. The sisters sold the business in 2016.

In 2007, Kussin married Allene Riley Froelich, an artist and educator. She died in 2020.

Later in life, Kussin formed a weekly men's group called the WOCs, short for Wiley Old Codgers. Forbes described it as a place where members could talk freely, with a pact that everything said at the table stayed there.

Kussin is survived by his son Karl Kussin and his wife Sarah, daughter Karen Stout and her husband Robert, and daughter Louisa Yamartino and her husband Richard. He also leaves 10 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 23, at 11 a.m. at the Trinitarian Congregational Church, 54 Walden St., Concord. A reception will follow. Concord's town flag will fly at half-staff that day in recognition of Kussin's Honored Citizen designation and his Army service, according to The Concord Bridge.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to Orchard House.