Richard Cox

October 11, 1942 – March 16, 2020

Richard Eugene Cox

December 17, 1942 - August 11, 2023

BURLESON - Richard Eugene Cox, 80, of Burleson, Texas, passed away peacefully at his home on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, following a long battle with Multiple Myeloma.

Graveside: 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway, Dallas, Texas. Visitation: 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Greenwood.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Richard's name to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, www.lls.org.

Richard was born Dec. 17, 1942, in Natick, Mass., to Ralph Eugene and Mary Easter Ellis Cox. After graduating from Natick High School, he attended Northeastern University, graduating from there with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. After moving to Fort Worth in the 1980s, Richard enrolled in Texas Christian University where he earned a Master's degree in Education.

After graduating from Northeastern, he moved to Detroit, Mich., for a job but soon joined the U.S. Air Force, spending time in Texas and in Massachusetts during his enlistment. Richard married Barbara Ann Kelley on Feb. 25, 1967, in Cochituate, Mass., and she returned with him to Del Rio, Texas, where he was stationed. Richard was then transferred to Houston where he worked at NASA as part of the Apollo Program that sent men to the moon.

After leaving the military, worked with the Department of Transportation in Massachuetts. Following a one year residence in Virginia the family returned to Houston and started his own computer business there, but later left that business to his former partners to move to Fort Worth where he worked for General Dynamics/Lockheed Martin, helping establish the Virtual Enterprise aspect of the company. He retired from Lockheed in July 31, 2007.

Richard was a lifelong member of the United Methodist Church, and worked at various times with the church's youth programs in the different cities where he lived. While working at Lockheed, he became president of a program called Medical Engineering of Texas that built assistive devices for individuals.

Richard developed many hobbies over the years, but his favorite was photography. Prior to the age of digital photography, he built his own darkrooms where he would develop and print the many photographs he took. After switching to the digital format, Richard taught himself to use Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, so that he could continue editing and printing his own photos.

Richard and his wife loved to travel, and many photographs he took on their travels adorned the walls of their home. They enjoyed taking long road trips, and they especially loved to go on cruises each year on their anniversary, making many good friends through the years on those trips.

Richard also loved his alma mater, Texas Christian University. He was a huge fan of the TCU Horned Frogs and was a TCU football season ticketholder for many years. He and his wife shared many fond memories of those football games, especially their trip to the 2011 Rose Bowl when TCU defeated Wisconsin, and their trip to the 2016 Alamo Bowl, the last bowl game Richard was able to attend, when TCU defeated Oregon 47-41.

Richard was preceded in death by his parents, Ralph and Mary Cox; and by his older sister, Martha Cox.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Barbara Cox of Burleson; his daughter, Sandra Comer of Fort Worth; his son, Eric Cox of Pittsburgh, Penn.; his sister, Charlotte Armstrong and her husband Ron of Secor, IL; his grandsons, Joshua Comer and Jacob Comer of Fort Worth; his granddaughter, Clementine Cox of Pittsburgh; several nieces, a nephew and several great-nieces and -nephews, and many dear friends.