Eulogy for My Brother Rusell Cox
Good Morning Everyone
This is a day whose arrival I have long feared. 
Today I stand in front of you as the last of The Cox Boys….and what a quartet we were.
But, more about that later…. this moment belongs to Russ.

Russell was more than just an older brother. He was a veteran, a brilliant computer & electronics technician, a small aircraft pilot, a mentor, a good friend & confidant, a surrogate grandfather to my kids….and the conduit that brought the extended Cox family together on multiple occasions.
He was always the one to make the phone call that led to family gatherings 
Our father’s sister, Aunt Millie, used to call him “The Lone Arranger.”

He was born on Venice Army Air Base at the tail end of WWII. The son of Merle Robert Cox, and Ruth Sierck Cox. They moved back to Ruth’s native Long Island after the War. Very tragically, Russell’s mother was killed in a horrific car accident on the Hempstead Turnpike in 1951. Russell was only 6 and a half years old. He carried the loss of his mother with him for the remainder of his life. It’s therefore only fitting that we should reunite them today.

Russ entered the US Navy in 1962 and was assigned to the USS Vancouver. In February of 1965, that ship, loaded with elements of the Ninth Marine Expeditionary Brigade, took up station off Da Nang South Vietnam. The Vancouver remained on station for the next 40 days. On the 8th of March in company with USS Henrico and USS Union, they landed the first U.S. combat troops at Red Beach, Da Nang, South Vietnam. 
Those 40 days would have a profound impact on Russell’s life in later years.

After being honorably discharged from the Navy in 1966, Russell went to work for Honeywell. 
Honeywell was IBM’s main competitor at that time. They sent to him to school, and he began a longstanding career as an expert computer and electronics technician.

He also earned a private pilot’s license. 
On one occasion, he called just before Memorial Day and asked if I would like to go camping with him in New Jersey. I was 16 at the time so I asked my Mom, and she said yes.
But there was a catch; He wanted to pick me up at Westchester County Airport and fly us down to the campground in Sussex County NJ. 
It took some convincing (my mother was not a big fan of flying). But we finally got her to agree. 
On the day we were scheduled to fly, Mom drove me to the airport. We met Russ in the terminal, with his headset wrapped around his neck and the jack tucked into the breast pocket of his shirt. We kissed Mom goodbye for the weekend (while she did everything but read from the bible, and splash holy water on us).
We then walked out to where the Piper Comanche he rented was parked. 
Mom watched from the parking lot while I stowed my camping gear aboard the aircraft, and Russ did his exterior preflight inspection. We then boarded, Russ powered up the plane, and we moved forward a few feet onto the access area for the active taxiway.  He then called on the radio “Comanche 1234 / Westchester tower, ready for taxi”….There’s no reply, So he calls out again “Comanche 1234 / Westchester tower, ready for taxi”…., and again there’s no reply. 
So now he reaches up to the control panel and adjusts the frequency knob, and tries again….still no answer.
When I finally I noticed, I said “Hey Russ…. the jack for your headset is still in your pocket.” 
All this time my mother was watching from the parking lot wondering why we weren’t moving, and if she’d known what was going on inside the plane, she’d have pulled us both out through the windows. 

In the years to come Russell would work for a few different electronics firms. 
Among them, a company called Periphonics, which was a subsidiary of Exxon Business Systems.
By this time, I was in the military myself, and was assigned to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. 
Now this was the late 70’s and, Periphoncs was competing for a million-dollar contract to install and service the very earliest ATM machines for First Hawaiian Bank. Russell went into a board meeting, and convinced his superiors to send him for the negotiations, instead of a salesman.                                                                 His boss took him aside at the end of that meeting and, and asked “Russ, don’t you have a brother stationed in Honolulu?”  When he replied “yeah, my little brother is over there”, his boss very sternly looked at him and exclaimed “don’t come back without that contract.” 
He didn’t’. He got First Hawaiian to sign a very lucrative agreement….and for the next three (3) days I celebrated with him as his business partner at the very well-appointed Illikai Hotel on Waikiki Beach at Periphonics’ expense.

That’s the way Russ was…. family was important to him. Wherever he was, whatever he was doing, Russell always tried to involve someone from our family. Especially our brother Bill. He & Bill were very close. They worked on numerous projects together through the years. Ranging from computer programs, a temperature control system, and of course the good ship “Never Sail.” (Ask Val about that one later) He took numerous trips out to Ohio to visit with our aunts, Uncles & cousins, and of course with our older brother Bob & his kids.
He and his wife Rose came along on multiple trips with Donna, and myself to Martha’s Vineyard, and Vermont. Our kids loved spending time with their Uncle Russ. He was their big teddy bear, a replacement grandfather, and a very bad influence. On one occasion he accompanied us to a minor league baseball game and decided to dole out $10 bills to my son and his friends. No wonder they loved Uncle Russ so much…. how can you compete with that?

He was Godfather to his first nephew Kristopher. An Uncle to Maggie, Stephanie, Jason, Emilie, Joey, and Shannon. All of whom he spoke-of, and asked-about frequently, and for whom he expressed nothing but admiration and love.

I said at the beginning of this monologue that I would go into the relationship the four of us Cox boys shared through the years. So here it is…. I had three wonderful brothers. The occasions on which we were all together in the same place at the same time were few and far between. But there was an unspoken bond between us that was never broken. We shared grief together when our father died, we shared the joy of marriages, and the birth of each other’s children. We basked in the glory of personal triumphs (promotions, professional accomplishments, etc.) Bragged about personal feats accomplished through hobbies or sports.                                                                                                                                               We teased each other unmercifully.                                                                                Consoled each other in moments of disappointment, and offered advice on how to move forward in many life situations. 
We talked, we walked and jogged together, we went to baseball games, we played golf, and on one or two occasions we sat down and hoisted a few beers together. We were brothers, we were the Cox Boys, we were The Sons of Merle Cox…and we did it with panache. 
There is no camera or video recording device that can hold the memories I have in my head and my heart of my brothers Bob, Russ and Bill. 

But I digress…. today is all about saying goodbye to Russell.

So Russ, wherever you are, I wish you fair skies and following seas. 
Fly high, fly far, check your six, and keep the blue side up.

I’ll see you, when I see you, Bro!

Russell was the eldest of all us cousins.  He help guide my eldest son to become an Eagle Scout, that meant a lot to me.  He was always fun to be around, much laughter as life should be lived.  His visits with the family are memorable and he will be missed.  Sleep in peace.

I thought Uncle Russell was the coolest.  Whenever he would visit with my Dad I can remember them laughing so loud and so much.  He had a bigger than life personality and it struck me he lived life on his own terms.  He flew me around the Statue of Liberty as a child and I thought i was living some kind of dream and it turns out i was.  I wish I could have seen him more in this lifetime.  I will never forget him.
Fly high Uncle Russell!  See you when I get there!  All my love!

OBITUARY

Russell M. Cox

September 24, 1944 – January 2, 2025

Arthur F. White Funeral Home

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