Extracted from The Kerrville Daily Times (Kerrville, TX)
Monday, August 19, 2002

RICHARD BRUCE COX SR.

Services Tuesday

KERRVILLE - Richard Bruce Cox Sr., of Kerrville, passed away Aug. 16, 2002, at the Kerr-ville VA Hospital at the age of 88. Services will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2002, at Trinity Baptist Church of Kerrville, followed by burial in Glen Rest Cemetery.

Known to friends and family as Bruce, he was born on Nov. 29, 1913, near the McCarty Community in Coal County, Okla. His parents were Richard Ed Cox and Jennie McCarty Cox. Bruce attended rural McCarty schools for two years, and then attended Coalgate, Okla. schools, graduating from Coalgate High School in May, 1932. After finishing school, he served in the C.C.C. Camp at Ada, Okla. as a civil engineer. Bruce then attended Oklahoma State University (then known as Oklahoma A & M) and graduated in 1941 with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.

While attending college, he met Juanita Cannon of Checotah, Okla. She graduated from Oklahoma A & M with a bachelor's degree in home economics in the summer of 1940. They married on Bruce's birthday, Nov. 29, 1940.

During World War II, Bruce entered the U.S. Army on June 17, 1942, and served until March 30, 1946 as a Signal Corps officer in the Pacific Theater under General Douglas MacArthur. He supervised the crystal grinding lab that furnished radio frequency control crystals for all services in the Southwest Pacific Area.

After the war, Bruce moved to Tulsa, Okla., where he was employed as a water planning engineer and a registered professional engineer in the states of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. Later, he transferred to Vicksburg, Miss., where he was chief of the Policy and Long Range Planning Branch of the Planning Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lower Mississippi Valley Division. On two occasions, he received a Meritorious Service Award for his work.

After retiring from the Corps of Engineers, he assisted the states of Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma develop their state water plans. He also served as assistant director of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. Then he served as senior advisor for the United Nations on water-related matters to 14 Arab nations, and traveled extensively in the Middle East.

He is survived by his wife, Juanita, of their home; two sons, Dr. Richard B. Cox Jr. of Kerrville, and Dr. Robert E. Cox of Edmonds, Wash.; one sister, Mrs. Etta Jackman of Miami, Okla.; and several grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, R.E. Cox Jr. (killed during World War II), and Eddie Cox; and two sisters, Ethel Cox and Ida Sprague.

Memorial remembrances may be made in the name of the decedent to the Building Fund of Trinity Baptist Church of Kerrville.

The family invites you to send condolences at www.grimesfuneralchapels.com by selecting the ``Send Condolences'' link.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Grimes Funeral Chapels of Kerrville.