Richard E. Cox

Richard E. (Dick) Cox entered the Church Triumphant at Homestead Village on December 6. 2015, one day short of his 96th birthday. He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the only son of Elmer B. and Mabel Christensen Cox, on December 7, 1919. He was married to Betty Jo Belknap Cox on May 23, 1942 in Oklahoma. He was her primary caregiver during her battle with Parkinson’s Disease, setting and example of loving care for all. She died in 2005.

Dick was a drummer for the Cedar Rapids Boys Drum and Bugle Corps competing in the Chicagoland contest where they won a second and third place awards. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in Cedar Rapids in 1938.

He served in the Army Air Corps in North Africa and Italy during WWII as a member of the 17th Depot Repair Squadron. One of his favorite stories involved the dismantling of a General’s DC-3 so it could be transported by truck to Morocco for repairs. He also led a crew who repaired Elliot Roosevelt’s P-38 that was used to fly reconnaissance flights and helped assemble lend-lease fighters in Adaban, Iran for Russia’s use against Germany.

After the war, he became a sheet metal worker in Cedar Rapids. He quickly demonstrated that he had abilities in drawing and layout and taught those skills in night school. He was recruited to move to Lancaster to work as a project engineer in 1962. He retired from the Woodson, Inc. in 1984.

In retirement, he discovered his love of woodworking and leaded glass art. He made many beautiful pieces of art but was most proud of the grandfather’s clock that stood proudly in his living room.

He is survived by his children: Janice, wife of James Buck of Cape Coral, Florida, James, husband of Patricia of New Holland, John, husband of Patricia of Lancaster and Julia, wife of Patrick Abel of Milford, DE. Ten grandchildren and step grandchildren and twenty great-grandchildren and step great-grandchildren also survive.

Services will be at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, please make memorial gifts to the Benevolence Fund at Homestead Village 1800 Village Circle, Lancaster, PA 17604 or Hospice & Community Care, 685 Good Drive, P. O. Box 4125, Lancaster, PA 17604.