Cox Jr., James Maurice
November 10, 1930 – October 18, 2021
James “Maurice” Cox Jr. died on October 18th, 2021 at the age of 90.
He was born on November 10, 1930 in Navasota, Texas, to James Maurice Cox Sr. and Bernice Ward Cox. His family settled in Midland Texas in 1942, where he attended public school and graduated from Midland High School in 1948. Upon graduation, Maurice moved to Lubbock, Texas in 1949 to attend Texas Tech University. In September 1952, during the Korean War, he was drafted into the US Army. He served as 2nd Lieutenant in the Flak Artillery Division at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas for two years. At the end of his tenure in 1954, Maurice returned to Texas Tech to graduate. He graduated in 1955 with a degree in petroleum geology. That year he also met his future wife, Menda Ross. They married in Ruidoso, New Mexico, in June 1955 and then settled in Midland, Texas. Over the next three years, Maurice and Menda had three children between 1956 and 1958 who were born there.
Prior to his marriage, he was employed by Great Western Oil and Gas. Maurice was transferred to Farmington, New Mexico in 1959 and again to Denver, Colorado in 1960, where he served as an executive in the newly established office. He worked for Great Western until 1969 when he left and started his own petroleum exploration company called Cox Explorations. In 1970, Maurice and Menda would have their fourth child to complete the family.
Maurice and his family led an active life. They belonged to a local country club, where Maurice’s passion for golf and tennis was enjoyed and played by the whole family. They enjoyed many trips to the Rocky Mountains, skiing, hiking, fishing in the winter, and enjoying the peace and quiet and activities that the mountains offered in all other seasons.
Maurice had a passion for flying. He obtained his pilot’s license at the age of 16 without his parents knowing, by raising and selling puppies for the cost of his lessons and license. He owned his first airplane at 16 and flew his own airplanes for the rest of his life, both for work and leisure. When his younger daughter was attending college in Fort Collins, Colorado, he had a standing date most Saturday mornings when he flew his plane over the pasture where his daughter was riding her horse and lowered his plane wing to say hello and wave to her.
In 1994 he became a devoted grandfather to his only grandchild. He taught his grandson many things in life, such as playing golf and tennis, and encouraged and engaged in many sports with him.
Maurice and Menda enjoyed traveling with their family and close friends in the United States, the Virgin Islands, and Europe. During the holidays he always found time to play a round of golf. One of his favorites was a trip to Israel and the Middle East with a church group from St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Littleton, Colorado.
Maurice was an active member at St. Andrews and joined the Church in 1963. He was a volunteer all his life and regularly served as an usher for many years. He was also a Master Mason of the Scottish Rite Freemasonry.
After retiring in 1998, Maurice and Menda traveled on with family and friends. He continued to enjoy an active life with rounds of golf almost daily and took golf trips several times a year with all of his close-knit golf friends.
Maurice was diagnosed with dementia in 2010, a disease that also cost his father his life. He was transferred to a memory care facility in 2019, which provided him with the special care he needed. He succumbed to a hip fracture in September that year from which he could no longer recover. He fell asleep peacefully and now rests in eternal peace.
He was very much loved by his family, friends, and everyone who knew him. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and friend and is greatly missed but never forgotten.
He is interned in the Horan & McConaty Gardens in Aurora, Colorado.
Published by the Denver Post October 31 through November 7, 2021.
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