Joseph Robert "JR" Fox

He was a founding member of Fellowship Baptist Church in Knoxville where he was a deacon and an ordained minister. He spent his childhood roaming the south Knoxville countryside on bicycles with his friends and eventually joined the Army for two years where he was a mechanic and vehicle driver. After returning from the Army in 1957, he married the love of his life, Ruth Hembree, and settled down to raise a family of three children in south Knoxville. For JR, East Tennessee was perfect and south Knoxville was the only place for home. Using his GI Bill, he attended refrigeration and air conditioning school and began a career in maintenance. This encompassed the old S&W Cafeteria in downtown Knoxville, the Brendan Park Apartment Complex in west Knoxville, and the Knox County Child and Family Services. JR could fix anything and often repaired appliances for family and friends.

JR is preceded in death by his parents, Earl and Ethel Fox; his sisters Mary Lee Lane, Hazel Berry, Helen Lee, and Betty Jo McGill; brother, William Carl Fox; and one grandson, Robert Miller.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Ruth Fox; his three children and spouses: Bob & Lori Fox of Stafford, Virginia; Bill and Becky Fox of Knoxville, Tennessee; and Teresa and Clay Haun of Knoxville, Tennessee; six grandchildren and six great grandchildren; along with numerous nieces and nephews.

Visitation is scheduled for Monday August 18th 2025 from 5:00-7:00 PM at Berry Funeral Home, 3704 Chapman Hwy, Knoxville, TN 37920. The funeral service, officiated by Reverend's Paul Ownby and Buster Gibson, will immediately follow the visitation at 7:00 PM. JR will be buried at the East Tennessee State Veteran’s Cemetery – John Sevier Hwy, at 12:30 PM Tuesday, August 19, 2025.

Online condolences may be left at www.berryfuneralhome.com for the Fox family.