Richard Franklin "Dick" Cox

Richard Franklin “Dick” Cox died Friday, April 10. He was born in Maryville, TN, on July 6, 1932, to the late Maude and the late Frank Cox. A 1950 graduate of Maryville High School, where he was the senior class president and co-captain of the football team, he met his future wife, Anne Rice, in their ninth-grade math class. Dick and Anne were married for almost 60 years, until Anne’s death in 2014. He earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1954. During his time in the Air Force and with the Aluminum Company of America, Dick and his family lived in Texas, Georgia, Iowa, and Australia, before returning to Maryville in 1974. He married the former Thea Doyle in 2018.

Dick Cox was a man who changed the lives of the people around him. For those of us fortunate enough to be his children and grandchildren, his impact has been profound, for he loved us, guided us, supported us, and modeled for us all how to live a life of service in line with a deep faith and unswerving ethical core. He had a similarly powerful impact on many in his larger community, especially at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, where he was a lifelong member and served as senior warden and longtime Education for Ministry leader. Dick’s world was divided into two large groups, current friends and potential friends, and he seemed constantly to be introducing himself, initiating conversations, and welcoming newcomers into his life. His sense of optimism was unshakeable, and it infused every new encounter and undertaking. He had an innate curiosity about the world and the people around him, and he continued to take up new hobbies or pursue new interests (classical guitar, painting, sailing, boat restoration, piano, Sudoku, etc.) throughout his long life. His love of travel encouraged trips at home and abroad well into his 80s. He loved the outdoors and seemed to possess an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the trees, geography, wildlife, and history of the Smokies. While he could be dogmatic and infuriating when arguing (especially with his children, whom he loved to wind up), he exhibited a rare and impressive willingness to take the views of other people seriously, to change his mind, to grow with the times, and to shift his perspectives. He was known to many for his love, kindness, generosity, hospitality, intelligence, wisdom, and sense of humor.

He was preceded in death by his parents, by his wife Anne in 2014, and by a son, Allan, in 1982. Survivors include his second wife Thea; four children: Richard F. Cox, Jr. (Donna) of South Bend, IN; Carol L. Cox (Michele Benzi) of Knoxville and Pisa, Italy; John D. Cox of Takoma Park, MD; and Patricia A. Hatch of Davidson, NC; 12 grandchildren: Josh Brown, Jenna Gribbon, Abigail Kingery, Callie Cox, Chaz Cox, Noah Cox, Joyce Benzi, Carlo Benzi, Sofia Benzi, Frances Cox, Key Hatch, and Kelly Hatch; six great-grandchildren: Zadie Brown, Silas Tepper, Matthew, Kody, and Scott Kingery, and Luca Benzi; and sister-in-law Susan Rice of Maryville.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday the 18th of April at four thirty in the afternoon at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Maryville. For family and friends, interment will precede the memorial service at Grandview Cemetery in Maryville at three in the afternoon. Memorials may be made to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church or to a favorite charity.