Robert (Bob) William Cox
Robert (Bob) William Cox
August 23, 1960 – August 14, 2012
Robert (Bob) William Cox, 51, passed away August 14, 2012 after a courageous battle with Cholangiocarcenoma, a rare form of cancer.
Bob was born August 23, 1960 in Lakeview, OR to Donald and Virginia Cox. When he was in the third grade his family moved to Molalla, where he attended grade school and high school. On September 22, 1979 he married Tracy Clinkscales at Grace Lutheran Church in Molalla.
His first job was at his father’s Texaco Station (now Chevron) on Main Street. He would go on to work in the propane and petroleum industry for the remainder of his life. In 1981 Bob went into business with his father operating Don Cox Propane until the business’s sale in 1995. In 1991 Bob purchased his first truck and trailer to haul propane for their retail operation, under the name IXL Propane. The name was later changed to IXL Transportation Services as the business expanded to hauling various types of petroleum products. By 2012 the Molalla-based business had expanded to 25 trucks and 32 employees, delivering petroleum products to 30 states, including Alaska and two Canadian Providences.
In his younger years Bob was a volunteer firefighter for the Molalla Fire Department’s Mulino Station and in 1985 he was elected Vice President of the Molalla Fire Station after just one and a half years on the force. In 1987 he was elected Lieutenant of the fire district, one of two who worked out of the Mulino Station.
A business owner for most of his adult life, Bob sought to better the business community around him by hosting his church’s marketplace ministry for business owners, managers and employees at his home every Tuesday night for the past year.
When he was not working, Bob enjoyed fishing, playing poker, skeet shooting and traveling in his RV with his family and friends. He also loved Clint Eastwood and John Wayne Western movies.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 33 years, Tracy Cox, daughters Danielle Cox and Diana Cox, mother Virginia Cox, sisters Dawn Burns and Tracy Gibboney, nephew Brian Burns, niece Errin Burns, many cousins and extended family members and many, many friends. He was preceded in death by his father, Don Cox.
A celebration of life will be held August 23, 2012 on what would have been Bob’s 52nd birthday at The Country Church, 16975 S. Hwy 211, Molalla, OR 97038 at 2:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the Meadowbrook Education Foundation, a 501C non-profit, for the Robert Cox Memorial Scholarship Fund:
Meadowbrook Education Foundation:
Robert Cox Memorial Scholarship Fund
PO Box 187
Molalla, OR 97038.
Published in the online Molalla (OR) Pioneer, 8/22/2012 2:50:10 PM |