Col. James J. Fox,

Lt. Col. James J. Fox, Sr., 72, of East Hartford, loving husband of Elizabeth ""Betsy"" (Murphy) Fox, entered into eternal life to be with Our Lord on Tuesday (December 26, 2006) at St. Francis Hospital surrounded by his dedicated wife and family. Born in Hartford on August 25, 1934, son of the late Patrick and Mary (King) Fox, he had resided in East Hartford for the past 43 years. He attended Our Lady of Sorrows Elementary School in Hartford and was a graduate of Hartford Public High School, Class of 1952 and the University of Connecticut, Class of 1956. He was a proud U.S. Army veteran and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant upon graduation from ROTC at UCONN. He later went to U.S. Army Field Artillery School in Ft. Sill, OK, and completed Command & General Staff School. He would remain in the U.S. Army Reserves for 26 years, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. He also attended Williams College of Banking in Massachusetts and was a 30-year employee of the former Charter Oak Bank & Trust Co., Hartford where he retired as a Vice-President. Mr. Fox was an outstanding baseball player at Hartford Public High School where he was a co-captain of the team in his senior year. He also played at UCONN and both the Hartford Twilight and Manchester Twilight Baseball Leagues. Mr. Fox loved the game of baseball and wanted to give something back to the youth of the area, so he became a baseball coach in the East Hartford American Little League where he coached the VFW team for ten years. He was always around the baseball fields as he enjoyed being a Park Ranger for the town of East Hartford at McAuliffe Park for many years with the late Ray McKenna. He was a faithful communicant of the Cathedral of St. Joseph, Hartford and was an avid fan of the New York Yankees and UCONN Women's Basketball teams. Although an active man, Jim's wife, children, grandchildren, and religious faith were the most important things in his life to him. Besides his beloved wife, Betsy, of 47 years, Mr. Fox is survived by five sons, James J. Fox, Jr. of East Hartford, Kevin W. Fox of East Hartford, Brian C. Fox and his wife, Traci-Lynn, of Glastonbury, Greg T. Fox of Glastonbury, Matthew P. Fox and his wife, Susan, of Marlborough; two daughters, Judee Fox of East Hartford, Lynn Skrzypiec and her husband, Douglas, of Rocky Hill; four loving grandchildren, Jaimie-Lynne Katkaveck of Old Saybrook, Jacob Skrzypiec of Rocky Hill, Matthew Skrzypiec of Rocky Hill, Christopher James Fox of Glastonbury; his very special in-laws, William and Mary Murphy of Wethersfield, Kathy and George Murphy of Ocala, FL, Barbara and John Marino of Wethersfield, Thomas Murphy of Wethersfield; a special aunt, Molly Hickey of West Hartford; four cousins, Michael Hickey, Carol Highland, Kathleen Marino, Margaret Flanagan; very special friends, Dr. Daniel Marshall, Peter Genga, Robert and Dolores Herlihy; many nieces and nephews. Funeral service will be Friday, December 29th at 9 a.m. from the D'ESOPO-East Hartford Memorial Chapel, 30 Carter Street, East Hartford with a Mass of Christian Burial celebrated at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Joseph, 140 Farmington Ave., Hartford. Burial with military honors will be at Veterans Memorial Field-Silver Lane Cemetery, East Hartford. Relatives and friends may call at the funeral home chapel on Thursday, December 28th from 4-8 p.m. Memorial contributions in Jim's name may be made to the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, P.O. Box 50, Memphis, TN, 38101. Jim's family would like to extend their sincere gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Richard Soucier and his entire Cardiac Staff at St. Francis Hospital for their professionalism, compassion, care given to Jim and treating them all as part of their own family. For on-line expressions of sympathy to the family please visit www.desopo.com.