Jerome Joseph Fox

Jerome "Jerry" Fox, 81, of Wilmington, passed away Monday, October 10, 2011 at Lower Cape Fear Hospice and LifeCare Center. Jerry Fox has always had a creative spirit. Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he attributes his love for the arts to his family, who were all artists of some sort. Since childhood, Fox has honed his skill of painting while finding his calling as a teacher.

His journey is far from typical, but it is one filled with passion. Learning that he had dyslexia, Jerry proved to overcome this and other challenges. After school, Jerry did not go to college. After High School, he enlisted into the Army and eventually owned his own business. His art studio and advertising agency was in Manhattan. Only after marrying the love of his life and having three sons did the thought of higher education cross his mind. In fact, when his middle son wanted to go to Pratt, Jerry found himself enrolling in their Integrated Studies Program.

Specializing in art for the blind, Jerry found his calling in teaching the arts. He states, “I fell in love with being able to teach.” Highlighting how “exhilarating” teaching is for him, Jerry remembers his first art show for blind students. He continued to teach and study art, obtaining a Masters in Special Education from Columbia’s Teachers College.

Merging his affinity for teaching art with his desire to take on a challenge, Jerry continued to teach handicapped children in different schools around the area. He shares some of his pedagogical advise and declares, “I work on a principal of praise.” Jerry elaborates, “The trick in art is having a very positive attitude.”

Having experience in watercolors, sculpting, acrylics, and oils, Jerry is versatile. Loving many mediums, Jerry has a favorite, etching in black-and-white with a pen. His vast talents are simply enhanced by his teaching abilities, and he was right to recognize how these skills work off each other. He says, “There isn’t a medium that I couldn’t teach you.”

In addition to the arts, Jerry’s life has been filled with traveling the world with his wife and loving his family. From the smile on his face, anyone can infer just how much quality time with his family means to him. He elaborates, “The most important things in my life, after my wife, are my three sons. “ Jerry has had many wonderful memories with his family. Among them include his travels with his wife to places such as Thailand, Turkey, Portugal, Israel, Spain, England, Italy, and France.

Although he has explored the world, literally, Jerry and his wife chose Wilmington, NC, as their retiring town. He explains, “I’m home here with the artists, musicians, jazz.”

A lover of culture, adventure, education, and the arts, Jerry continued to draw, paint, and teach others. He shared just how beneficial his experiences with Lower Cape Fear Hospice and LifeCare Center’s Healing Arts program have been. “It’s absolutely therapeutic to me.”

He was preceded in death by his son, Stephen M. Fox. He is survived by his loving wife of 59 years, June R. Fox; his sons Andrew M. Fox and Adam L. (Mary)Fox; brother, Leonard P. (Anita) Fox; and granddaughter, Amber M. Fox.

Graveside services will be held 11am Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at B’nai Israel Hebrew Cemetery with Rabbi Robert Waxman officiating.

The staff at Coble Ward-Smith Funeral Service is honored to serve the family of Jerry Fox.