James Russell Fox

best—golfingon

Monday, September 19, 2016. He was 73 years old.

Jim was born in Spokane, WA on February 11, 1943, to James Wesley “Bill” Fox and Edra Young Fox,

both whom preceded him in death. His siblings—Marilyn (Robert) Church, of Mesa, AZ, and Charles

(Merleen) Fox, of Spokane Valley, WA—both survive him. Jim’s companion of 51 years, his wife

Kathleen Jolley Fox, originally of Vernal, UT, also survives him. Their nine children—Samatha (Michael)

Call (Spokane Valley), Daniel (Lori) (Sandy, UT), Russell (Melissa) (Wichita, KS), Stuart (Tiffany) (Orem,

UT), Abraham (Betsy) (Riverton, UT), Jesse (Amy) (Liberty Lake, WA), Philip (Katie) (Orem), Marjorie

Godek (Orem), and Baden (Mary Ellen) (Lawrence, KS)—survive him as well, as do 58 grandchildren

and greatgrandchildren.

Jim graduated from Central Valley High School in 1961, served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ

of Latterday

Saints in London, England, from 1962 to 1964, after which he attended Brigham Young

University in Provo, UT, marrying Kathleen in 1965, and graduating with a degree in accounting in

1967. Returning to Spokane, he worked at and eventually ran Fox Milling, Inc., which had been

founded by his father Bill in 1938, until he sold the business in 1985. Since that time, Jim kept himself

involved in real estate, restaurant franchises, the mortgage business, and much more—as well as

always working on his golf game (only two weeks before his death, he hit his fifth lifetime

holeinone).

He also involved himself in community affairs, at one point serving a term as a Spokane

County Fire Commissioner from 19871990..

But his greatest priorities were always church and family.

Jim was much beloved by his extended family for his wise counsel, his sense of adventure and fun, his

unwavering religious faith, and his unfailing support of all of his children, through all their differences

and ups and downs. Jim supported his wife and participated in many theatrical productions. Family

reunions, card games (Rook most of all), camping adventures, allnight

drives, talent shows, golfing

trips, travels to foreign countries, and much more feature in the treasured memories of Jim shared by

the whole family. Through both good financial times and notsogood

ones, he was always engaged in

some projectlearning

to fly a plane, building furniture for his living room, killing off the wasps which

plagued his and Kathleen’s log cabin home, reading the entire collected novels of Louis L’Amour—and

that energy and determination served as a model for all his family. A devoted Scouter, earning his

Eagle Scout Award at 14 years of age and awarded the Silver Beaver by the Inland Empire Council of

the Boy Scouts of America in 1984, participated as a local Scout leader for both the 15 th World Scout

Jamboree in Kananaskis County, Alberta in 1983, and a regionwide

LDS Scout Encampment at

Farragut State Park, ID, in 1984, and then served as General Chairman of another LDS Scout

Encampment at Camp Sunrise, WA, in 2012. Yet through all this, he would say his greatest

achievement as a Scout leader was that all seven of his sons earned their Eagle Scout Award.

Above all, his church service over the decades—as a Scoutmaster, 50 years leading Youth, LDS Bishop,

a member of the Spokane East Stake presidency, a worker in the Spokane LDS Temple and much

more—set the tone for his large clan. After decades of church service, at a time when most would

begin to retire from such voluntary work, Jim accepted the responsibility to work as a religion

instructor at the Airway Heights Corrections Center , which he did for nine years. His experiences

working with the inmates there were, by his own testimony, the most spiritually rewarding of his

whole life. Jim was certain of the love God has for all humankind, and of the truth of the teachings of

Jesus Christ. He saw his whole life very much as an act of stewardship for his Father in Heaven, and by

so viewing it, he inspired many others to hold to the same ideals.

There will be a public viewing at Thornhill Funeral Home, 1400 S. Pines Rd., Spokane Valley, WA, on

Sunday, September 25, from 6pm to 8pm. The funeral will take place at the LDS Spokane East Stake

Center, 13608 E. Belle Terre Ave., Spokane, WA, at 11am on Monday, September 26. In lieu of sending

flowers, please consider sharing a card or letter describing memories of Jim with our family at the

viewing or funeral.