James (Jimmy)

Jimmy was born in Coburg, Oregon on January 4, 1914, the seventh of nine children born to James Richard and Dora Jane Green Fox. He moved with his family to Brownsville, Oregon and his early years were spent working on his parent’s farm and going to school. (Some of the skills he learned there were later utilized as he raised bountiful gardens to help feed his family and when he helped his younger daughter break and train her horse, “Sundance”.)

After high school Jimmy moved with his parents to the Los Angeles area. His older brother, Emerson “Bill”, who owned a parking lot in Long Beach, CA asked Jimmy if he would like to work for him in the evenings and attend Long Beach Junior College during the day. Jimmy followed through with that plan and was working in the parking lot in 1933 when the great earthquake occurred. He saw a nearby building collapse and a young man come tumbling out. Jimmy went over to him, picked him up and brushed him off, after which the young man insisted Jimmy had saved his life. The young man was Jim Padgett and the two young men became dear friends.

After completing his A.A. Degree in 1935, Jimmy was convinced by his friend, Jim, to go to the University of Missouri to further his education. Together they bought a 1924 Dodge and started driving across country and the adventure that trip developed into is a tale all by itself! Jimmy completed his B.A. degree in 1938 and went on to complete his M.A. degree in 1939. He was a versatile athlete at the U. of Missouri, playing varsity football, winning the middle weight boxing championship, was runner-up 2 years in middle weight championships, and managed intramural basketball and softball teams. As a graduate assistant at the University of Missouri Laboratory Training School Jimmy taught physical education classes and coached basketball, baseball, wrestling, tennis and track.

In January 1942, Jimmy enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve as a Chief Specialist in Athletics and was made Athletic Officer on the U.S.S. Montpelier. Evidently the ship was in the Norfolk, VA port because he met Sarah Roberta Wright on a blind date there. The romance blossomed and, while Jimmy was in Officer’s School being trained about radar, he submitted a request for a 72-hour pass requesting to get married. When it was granted, he telegraphed Roberta, “Let’s carry out basic plans.”

On October 24, 1942, they were married at Christian Temple in Norfolk by Roberta’s father, Rev. T. Fred Wright. Soon thereafter Jimmy was sworn in as an ensign and received orders to report to indoctrination school as an instructor. Jimmy and Roberta were living in the Bronx, NY while Jimmy taught at Fort Schuyler and when their first child, Nancy Ellen, arrived at the Brooklyn Navy Hospital on November 15, 1944. Jimmy had some interesting encounters with people of note while in the Navy, not the least of which was Bill Dickey (professional catcher for the NY Yankees and later manager of the team) who was serving in the Navy as an entertainment recruiter. He arranged for Jimmy to get orders to Pearl Harbor as boxing commissioner. Jimmy headed west to Hawaii when Nancy Ellen was 6 months old and was stationed there approximately 6 months. Roberta and Nancy Ellen went to Waverly, VA to live with Roberta’s parents, Fred and Sarah Wright, until he returned. Jimmy was discharged from active duty on November 24, 1945 as a Lieutenant USNR and remained in the reserves for a number of years following World War II.

Jimmy accepted a position at Lynchburg College to teach and coach in their physical education program in early 1946. He served as Athletic Director until 1965 when he was named Chairman of the Division of Applied Studies and of the Department of Health and Physical Education. When he arrived in 1946 there were only 2 varsity sports, 2 professors/coaches and a gymnasium that was showing its age. Things were about to change at Lynchburg College. 

Roberta and Jimmy welcomed their second child, James Richard II, on June 23, 1947. Roberta was a full-time housewife and mother, but supported Jimmy as she became an active participant in the Faculty Wives Club activities. The family became an active part of the Memorial Christian Church congregation that built a new church just a block away from the house. Milton Raymond joined the family on July 1, 1952, just a few weeks before the family moved to Charlottesville, VA for Jimmy to spend his sabbatical year at the University of VA working on his Doctorate. 

On September 3, 1954, Rebecca Jane arrived to complete the family. Three years later we had outgrown the small house on Perrymont Ave. and moved outside of town to a larger house on a large lot where Jimmy expanded his garden to help feed his expanded family. Aside from his work at LC he was an elder and Sunday School teacher at Memorial Christian Church, and he and Roberta sang in the choir as well. Jimmy taught extension night classes for the University of VA, refereed basketball and football games, participated in the Ruritan Club and rarely missed his kids’ activities. He also found time to call square dances for churches and neighborhood gatherings. The whole family enjoyed this pastime.

In the spring of 1961, Jimmy was awarded his Ed. D degree, the first person to complete a Doctorate in Education from the University of VA. His dissertation was used to create the physical fitness norms for public high schools in the State of VA. Additionally, Jimmy was the first instructor certified to teach Driver’s Education in Virginia and was requested by the VA State Dept. of Education to develop a program to train Driver’s Ed instructors. 

Meanwhile at LC, Jimmy convinced the President of the College to change the building priorities for a new gymnasium and field house from 9th to 2nd by showing a sizeable cost savings to be gained if they moved more quickly. Consequently, LC was the first college in the nation to receive an outright federal grant for athletic facilities. Under Jimmy’s leadership the athletic program grew to 19 varsity sports and twelve full time professors/coaches. The program has turned out countless health and physical education teachers serving in Virginia and other states. In 1979 the college named the baseball field the James C. Fox Field which pleased him tremendously since baseball was his favorite sport. He continued to teach and coach until the college policy forced him into partial retirement, and five years later, full retirement at the age of 70. He was inducted into the Lynchburg Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.

Jimmy and Roberta were determined that their children would know their Fox Family relatives on the west coast. Consequently, Jimmy’s night class and referee pay went into a special account to finance our cross country trips every 4 years. They gave their children a very rich heritage as we camped across country in many state and national parks and as we visited our family up and down the west coast from Los Angeles to Albany. They made sure they were exposed to cultural events as well as all the sports the college offered. 

Jimmy and Roberta were totally devoted to each other and to their family. They loved nothing more than getting the whole gang around the dinner table after church on Sunday or having the grandchildren with them. As Roberta’s health failed due to diabetes, she suffered the consequent loss of vision and heart disease which limited her activities more and more. Jimmy was her loving “chief cook and bottle washer”, took her to her church circle meetings and taught the Bible study lessons. On June 13, 1989 Roberta underwent cardiac bypass surgery, suffered numerous complications from the operation, and never left the intensive care unit. She died July 24th.

Jimmy threw himself into church and community activities and found a companion in the church seniors’ group with whom he shared similar childhood experiences and whose company made him happy. In May, 1990 Jimmy married Claudine Allen. Unfortunately, about 6 years into their marriage Jimmy was showing definite signs of developing dementia and was later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. As the disease progressed, he never failed to join family members in singing “You Are My Sunshine.” Jimmy died April 23, 2003 and is sorely missed but wonderfully remembered and appreciated, not only by his family, but by his former students and everyone his life touched along the way.