William John Foxwell

FOXWELL, JOHN W.; age 95; of Troy; passed away May 14, 2013, after a long illness. He was born August 28, 1917, in Bristol, England, and is survived by his wife, Lauretta "Polly"; his step-sons, Tim (Michele) Myers, Mark (Caroline) Myers and Scott (Justine) Myers; his nine precious grandchildren; his niece, Jane (Terry) Small in England and the extended Shea family. He was preceded in death by his wives, Winifred and Winifred Shea Foxwell along with his sister, Jessie and his twin sister, Mary Joan. John survived the blitz of London during World War II when two bombs landed in his garden but did not detonate. He was not deployed to action but served in the Home Guard for England to retrofit tractors into tanks. He was a Ford Scholarship student who worked part time in the drawing office of Ford Tractor and attended what is now the University of London. He went on to be Chief Engineer of Ford Tractor's World Wide Operations, a position he held until his retirement. He was a good cricket player in England and a good golfer in the U.S. He also was a talented inventor who held many patents. After retirement he worked for the U.S. Department of Energy well into his eighties to review difficult patent applications that most people could not evaluate. He became a "father" for the first time in his life at the age of seventy-three when he married Polly and held his first newborn when the first grandchild arrived. He embraced new responsibilities and was an excellent role model for the young men he felt to be his own. Funeral Services will be held at 5:00 p.m. Saturday, May 18, 2013, at PIXLEY FUNERAL HOME, 3530 Auburn Road in Auburn Hills and the family will receive friends from 1 p.m. Saturday until the time of service. Rather than sending flowers, the family would prefer that memorial contributions in John's name be directed to the Wounded Warriors Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, Kansas 66675.

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