Obituary of Earl M. Fox

Earl Fox passed from this life peacefully December 25, 2020, at home in Lodi, California. He was born Earl Monroe Fox in Fort Morgan, Colorado, April 2, 1924, the fourth and youngest child of Ivan Kenneth Fox and Ruth Lamina Fox (nee Oakley). As principal of Elkhorn and Linden Elementary Schools, he was a passionate supporter of public education and the school as a center of the community. He supported the growth of hundreds of students and their families in his 29 years as an educator. Earl loved sports. He played minor league baseball and football for the University of the Pacific. He coached basketball, flag football and baseball at the middle school level. After retirement he actively coached and supported his grandchildren’s sports teams. An avid golfer, he spent many hours on the course with friends and relatives and could be found practicing his chip shot in the living room. Earl served in the Pacific as a member of the US Army Air Corps during World War II. Moving to Stockton, CA after the war, he was reunited with Norma Gillespie, the girl he was sweet on in 8th grade in Orleans, Nebraska,. They married in August of 1949 and enjoyed 69 years together. His family is deeply grateful for all the care, prayer, humor and support he unceasingly contributed to our lives. Earl was preceded in death by his wife, Norma Fox (nee Gillespie), his parents, his brothers, Clyde and Ivan Fox, and sister Dorothy Wall (nee Fox). He is survived by his daughter, Luann Fox, grandchildren, James Sanguinetti and Angela Sanguinetti (Branden Dais), sister-in-law, Zada Stanley, four nieces and five nephews. A memorial service will be held graveside at Cherokee Memorial Park on January 4, 2021, at 11:00 a.m.