Leland Cox of St. Petersburg, FL, a long-term resident of Marshall County, passed away on October 18th, 2022 of natural causes. Colonel Cox is the son of the late Charles Robert Cox and the late Evelyn Mow Cox.
He graduated from Argos High School in 1965, Purdue University in 1969, and received a Master’s Degree in Business Management in 1981 from the Air Force Institute of Technology, Dayton, Ohio. He entered the Air Force in 1972, was commissioned, trained to be a pilot, and became a Weather Reconnaissance pilot from 1973 to 1976. The rest of his career was as a systems acquisition Officer, may years in Dayton, Ohio.
He retired there as a Colonel in 1977 with 26 years in service. He accepted a job as a Junior ROTC instructor at Adams High School, South Bend. Following that, he spent several years as a substitute teacher in all of the Plymouth elementary schools and Triton elementary. At Triton, he was also an assistant Cross Country Coach as the high school and junior high boy’s track coach. He received an elementary license from Purdue North Central in 2004 and accepted a teaching position in Unicoi, Tennessee. His health conditions forced him to retire in 2005.
He is survived by his sister- Annette Cox Sharpe, Children- Kristen (Tom) Robinson and Curt Cox, and grandchildren- Ivy, Brianna, Brooke, Christian, and Monica.
I have known Lee for many years going back to fourth grade. We grew up as friends spending time at one another’s house. We were both in the percussion section of band. Both,of our fathers were math teachers. His sister and my brother dated in college for a time. I knew Lee as Leland growing up in the Argos, Indiana area.
We grew apart following high school and only reconnected when my wife, Rosemary and I began spending the winter in Florida.
I wish to express my sympathy to the surviving members of Lee’s family. I know that he will be missed.