Phillip Eugene Fox was born in Indiana on 2/8/1932 and adopted 6 days later, on Valentine’s Day by Eugene and Isabell Fox. He celebrated his birthday on Valentine’s Day all his life. Our beloved Dad died, peacefully, on Valentine’s Day at the age of 94 surrounded by family and love.
“There are no happy endings. Endings are the saddest part, so just give me a happy middle and a very happy start.” ~ Shel Silverstein
A Very Happy Start
Dad/Phil grew up in Sturgis MI during WWII; he was 7yo when it started and 13 when it ended. Dad was a Jr. Air Raid Cadet and told to report any suspicious activity. He hung airplanes from his ceiling, played hide/seek in a cemetery, and stood on a winter storm shutter to paddle around the lake. He was very proud of his Chris-Craft boat. When Dad was 12yo, his mother adopted another newborn; his sisters name is Toni.
Dad/Phil loved music; he grew up with it. In his mother’s eulogy, he wrote: My mother was an accomplished pianist who played classical music, especially Chopin; Dad also played piano. In high school he played the cornet in a band that wore top hats when they performed. His 1st job was in a grocery store where he made a lot of potato salad/baked beans. Amazingly, he had 3 cars in high school. His 1st was a Ford Model A – hand crank in the front to start the car. The 2nd was a Dodge that had wooden spokes and pull-down shades. The 3rd was a Buick Roadmaster.
Education and Career
After high school, Dad attended the General Motors Institute. After 3 years of school, Dad began his career in Utah where he measured remaining insulation in a fired missile. His assignment was to determine the minimum amount needed. Determining the minimum amount of insulation was critical for maximizing payload. The first ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles) began in 1951 with Project Atlas. Titan missiles came next. In 1962, The Minuteman missile development began, as a replacement to the Titan missile. Dad worked on two of the 1st three phases.
In October 1978, Dad began work for Martin Marietta in Santa Maria CA and retired at age 78. Young engineers loved to work with him because of his long-varied experience. When he started, work was done manually. Later, when computers became popular, many of his peers retired. Dad learned something new and excelled on. In 4/87 he was awarded the Directors Award for the Space Shuttle Program Vandenburg. At that time, he was the Chief of Engineering Support at work. Dad was transferred to Florida about a year after the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion on 1/28/86 because the possibility of a west coast Cape Canaveral was scrapped.
Married Life and Becoming a Dad to the D’s
Dad/Phil became a Catholic to marry our mom, Marjorie Swales. Initially they lived in Clio MI and had 2 girls Debbie and Denise before moving for work to Utah then Rancho Cordova, CA where girl #3 Dawn was born. The baby, David, was born after we moved to our long-term family home in beautiful Los Gatos, CA.
We had a great family life for many years. Mom worked at home caring for us and Dad. We had family dinners every night and attended St. Francis Cabrini as a family We swam in our doughboy pool; we loved it when Dad pretended to be a whale and gave us rides on his back. We played badminton, bumper pool and enjoyed many family trips to play at the beach, in the snow, and on the American river while camping with family friends, the Schneiders, in Placerville. Carl and Rachel Schneider were our parents, Phil/Margie’s best friends and lived across the street from us when we lived in Rancho Cordova. Sometimes, one of the Schneider girls would babysit all the kids at our house, while the adults had fun across the street. My dad played piano and Carl Schneider played the “stomp fiddle.”
We took trips in our station wagon drove from CA to FL. Two adults and 4 kids “comfortably” riding in a station wagon coast to coast. We ate breakfast/lunch at roadside rest stops and enjoyed little boxes of Kellog’s cereal/sandwiches. We went to Michigan to visit my mom’s Swales family. Once, when my dad’s parents visited, he took us to Haight-Ashbury to see the hippies in San Francisco. Eventually, life hit some bumps and our parents divorced.
A Very Happy Middle
Later, Dad became an Episcopalian and married Angie in September 1976. Angie had 2 kids, Eddie and Jamie. Both parents got bonus kids and all the kids, got bonus siblings.
Dad/Angie loved the San Francisco 49ers and held season tickets for decades. Their social life circled around their St. Richards Episcopal church family. They loved to entertain and excelled at it. In 2004, they became Godparents to Aidan McConnell. Aidan is 22 and is graduating in May with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Oviedo was home for almost 40 (39) years: 1987-2026
Dad and Angie enjoyed living next door to the Bruno (David/Lucy) family. After Angie died, Lucy enjoyed bringing home cooked meals to dad. She is/was the prayer warrior next door who rounded up her troops and invited a group to pray for both Dad and Angie over the years.
When asked for advice about living a long life, dad would tell us eat well, get plenty of rest, don’t worry about anything, and laugh a lot. Dad was a reader and had Dale Carnegies book, ‘How to Stop Worrying and Start Living’, published in 1948. Perhaps he adopted his don’t worry philosophy way back then and then modeled it throughout his life: Don’t worry about things you can’t control.
Dad is a great active listener, has a beautiful ability to stay present to be in the moment, and to live/enjoy fully. His kids inherited his and their mom’s quick wit, humor and their sense of play to have or create fun.
“There are no happy endings. Endings are the saddest part.”
In 1998, Dad gave his mother’s eulogy at St. Richards.
Our Fox family had a lot of family deaths between 2019-2023. With the exception of Angie, all were unexpected. The last 3 were all in the Orlando area by dad.
- 6/11/2019 Angie died
- 12/4/2019 Roxanne Sullivan, David’s MIL and Jimmy’s mom died
- 8/31/2020 Jason Fox, Phil’s 1st grandchild, died
- 7/11/2021 Eddie Loeffler, Angie’s son died
- 12/11/2022, Stan Berry, Eddie’s life partner died
- 10/2023 Kevin, Stan’s brother, was shot/died – road rage
The Remarkable Resilient Phil Fox
In August 2024, dad had a couple of injuring falls which surprised us because he was historically strong and steady on his feet. The 1st fall was on the sidewalk walking home from the mailbox and he injured his face/nose. The 2nd was 10 days later when he turned wrong and fell on his side hitting a wooden chair. He found Angie’s walker, walked to the other side of the house, and casually said, “Hey Debbie I fell”. The fall resulted in 3 broken ribs, his 1st rehab, and the beginning use of a walker. I am intentionally sharing detail because it so illustrates who our dad is. Father Tom Downs recently described him as “The King of Calm”, a term I love because it is so accurately true.
Dad had a remarkably healthy life for 93+ years. A series of falls began on 9/8/25; the life changing fall on 11/3/25 resulted in a fractured neck and a subdural hematoma. He lost his mobility. “They say” you cannot control the falls. “They” are right, even in the best of facilities – it happens and it did. God decides when to call us home and he did in a Serendipitous way because Dad’s traditional birthday celebration and his death date occurred on the same day -Valentine’s Day.
While playful, Dad was also thoughtful and could be a man of few words with great meaning. Following a closed head injury from a fall on 9/8/25, our beautiful dad said, “There is nothing urgent in the house and nothing urgent in him.” The way that he thinks and the way that he speaks clearly shows how strong his cognitive skills were at age 93.
Dad enjoyed special trips with his kids
2019: Thanksgiving in MI with Dawn/Craig and then to Houston in December for a 4-day birthday fun for Debbie/Jason
2020: San Diego for Roxanne’s COL and to see Denise’s family
2022: NYC with David/Jimmy and Italy- Milan, Lake Como, Rome, Vatican – with David, Jimmy, Denise, Dawn, and Craig
2023: MI July 2023 Dad/Dawn both got COVID- plans disrupted- missed Big Swales family party and went again September 2023
2024: MI Sturgis MI to see his family home with Dawn/Craig
Multiple trips to Hudson, Tarpon Springs, and Dunedin FL to see Hank/Martie, Leah/Gabe and family
2025: Hudson FL to visit family (see above) April 2025. This was dad’s last trip which is ironic because Angie’s last trip was also to Hudson Florida on Veterans Day 2018 to see the same family. Martie is Dad’s SIL (Margie’s baby sister)
Gratitude
Although we are sad Dad is no longer here, we are grateful because of the length/depth of life God gave to our dad and to each of us. We all have an expiration date, Dad’s expiration date was later than Jason’s, Eddie’s, Stan’’s and Angie’s. Life is a Gift.
Cesare Pavese, said We do not remember days, we remember moments.We are blessed and grateful for decades of cherished memories and have hearts full of love. We hope you have memories to cherish and carry some of Phil’s love and stories with you.
Celebration of Life
We will honor Dad with a Celebration of Life at 11 AM on Saturday March 14th, 2026, at St. Richards Episcopal in Winter Park, FL. A lunch reception will follow.
Dad’s 4 D’’s are: Deborah Fox of Austin TX, Denise Fox of Alpine CA, Dawn Brooks (Craig) of Mt. Morris, MI, and David Fox (Jimmy) of NYC, NY
2 Bonus Children: Edward Loeffler (Stan) of Winter Park, FL – deceased, and Jamie Loeffler of Citrus Heights, CA
5 Grandchildren: Jason Fox of Houston, TX – deceased, Armondo Luna (Kashi) of San Diego, CA, Ali Salazar (Doug) of Lakeside, CA, Kevin Fox (Jessi) of Burton, MI, and Katie Hart (Jacob) of Alma, MI
5 Great Grandchildren Avery 17, Alivia 16, Brooklynn 13, Ryder 10, Evelyn 8, Nora 6
He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Toni, his first wife Marjorie, and his second wife Angie. Phil was also preceded in death by Jason Fox; Eddie Loeffler; and by Stan Berry.
Deb Fox | Financial Wellness 