James W. "Sam" Cox

James W. (Sam) Cox was born January 23, 1930, at his home in Marshall, Texas. Sam passed away just after midnight August 9th, 2012, surrounded by his family at the Lighthouse Hospice House in Round Rock, Texas. He was 82 years old. His last home was in Cedar Park, Texas, where he resided for the last ten years.

Sam is survived by his wife, Mary Joyce Morgan Cox of nearly 60 years; his son, Robert Dwain and daughter-in-law Sharon Cox and grandchildren, Robert, Charles and Sara Cox of Lumberton, Texas; his daughter, Pamela Joyce and son-in-law Michael Pontious; grandsons, Alan Pontious, Hunter and Andrea Pontious and great-grandchildren, Avery and Jacob Pontious all of Cedar Park, Texas; son, David Wallace and wife, Betty Cox; and grandchildren, Brian of Fort Wayne, Indiana and Ashley Cox of Chicago, Illinois. He is also survived by his sisters-in-law, Winnie Jo Cox of Longview and Reba Morgan of Mesquite, Texas; and brother-in-law, Ray Bird of Hallsville, Texas. He was “Uncle Sam” to over 26 nieces and nephews and their spouses, children and grandchildren.

Sam was the youngest of five children. Arriving at the beginning of the “Great Depression”, his mother told him she decided to dedicate him to God since they didn’t know how they would be able to afford him. Sam was preceded in death by his parents, James Walter and Della Eugenia Carson Cox; his brother, Durwood and wife, Mildred Cox; sister, Mildred Pauline Parish and husband, Cecil Rowles; brother, Travis Alton and wife, Mary Cox; and sister, Dorothy and husband Joe (Babe) J. Bagesse.

Sam started school at Pine Tree Elementary in Greggton, Texas, and moved around quite a bit until the beginning of World War II. He was nearly twelve when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He remembered a spirit of patriotism that continued all throughout the war. These were very impressive years for him. His father was an Air Raid Warden and Sam accompanied him on his rounds in Beaumont, and his sister Dorothy was listed as Beaumont’s first War Widow of the Merchant Marines and later went on to join the WAC’s. His brother Travis joined the Army Air Corps and Durwood worked at the Pennsylvania Shipyard where they built Liberty ships as fast as they could.

Sam graduated from South Park High School in Beaumont, Texas in 1947, at 17 years old; he immediately joined the Naval Reserve. In May of 1948, he joined the regular Navy where he learned to operate radio equipment and use Morse Code. After training, he served as a Flight Radio Operator, Voice Radio Operator and finally up to a Base Radio Operator. However, once the Navy discovered his drafting skills, he was sent to the Engineering Department, where he drew in ink, several Schematic Drawings that were included in the BuPers Manual, entered into the Library of Congress. The Navy was also where Sam picked up and began to develop his love of photography. He began his photography skills with an old Speed Graphic camera which is still in the family. He was honorably discharged from the Navy in April 1952 after 4 years of service.

After the Navy, Sam returned to Beaumont, Texas and worked as a Junior Draftsman for Bethlehem Steel Co. for a short period of time before moving back to Greggton, Texas. It was here that he met the love of his life, Joyce Morgan. In April of 1953, they were married and the following year, they welcomed the first of their three children. After several moves to find steady work, he returned to Beaumont to set down roots and raise his family. He worked as Civil Structural Design Draftsman and Senior Engineering Technician for Deevey & Shannon, Petrocon and Stubbs-Overbeck Engineering companies, working as a contract drafter for the oil refineries.

He was a member of First Baptist Church of Beaumont for twenty years and Calvary Baptist Church of Beaumont for 10 years, and then retired to Wildwood and joined the Wildwood Baptist Church. He served as deacon at both Calvary and Wildwood. He was always very active in his church, working in the audio booth during the services, the Tape Ministry, singing in the choir, and using his carpentry, photography and designing skills to fabricate whatever project his church needed. He served his Lord with all his heart and hands. Sam later picked up painting and stained glass and always loved gardening. After his first retirement, he returned to his passion of model railroading, building no less than three model towns in the second half of his life, where he could run his trains and his imagination. When he moved to Cedar Park, Texas he was able to merge his passion and work at the Collectable Caboose in the Railyard. He loved his bosses, Craig and Elizabeth Berry, and considered them and all of their customers, his friends. Sam had great joy in watching his children share his passion of photography, railroading and design, and watching as his grandchildren began to share similar interest.

His was a rich, full life and he probably loved traveling most of all. He kept a list of all the many places he had been and things he had seen. He could look at a picture of a skyline and tell you the city and country it was in. If he had been there, he could also tell you the name of the street and what was around the corner. In the last few years, he was limited by his health and wasn’t able to travel physically, but when he would come back from a coma or unconsciousness, he would tell stories of his travels and what he saw.

Sam looked forward to the next life with his Lord and Savior.

To share memories of Sam with his family, please visit www.cookwaldencapitalparks.com