Edward B. Fox

Edward “Port” Beckwith Fox died peacefully of natural causes in his sleep at the age of 86 in Willcox, Ariz. on Jan. 2, 2014. He was born on April 23, 1927 in Summit, N.J. to Edward Griffm Beckwith Fox and Julia Crawford Fox, and was raised in Cazenovia, N.Y. outside of Syracuse. His family lived in the same house (the “Beckwith Farmhouse”) for 150 years in an area near Beckwith Bay on Cazenovia Lake. Ed graduated high school from Kent School, Kent, Conn., and went straight into the military at the end of World War H. After his service he went to Williams College, Williamstown, Mass. and soon started a family with his first wife, Mary Perine Platt. After her death he married Pearl Honychurch in 1959. He had six children altogether and now has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Ed worked a variety of jobs in his life, but his favorite was in the emergency response field, beginning when the family lived in Bethlehem, Conn. He helped start the Bethlehem Ambulance Association in 1977, and spent many years as its president. He also volunteered with the Bethlehem Volunteer Fire Department, an activity that led to a career as a CPR and EMS Instructor. After ‘retiring’ to Willcox, Ariz., he continued CPR and EMS Instructor volunteer work and both he and his wife volunteered at the Willcox Hospital. As to family, Ed was recently predeceased by his only sibling, his sister Julia Hullar. Pearl, his wife of 54 years, and all six of his children and their spouses survive him: Daniel Fox of Brooklyn, N.Y., Dr. Matthew Fox and his wife Kathie Fox of Greenville, S.C., Katie Arnold and her husband Dr. Robert Arnold, of Tucson, Ariz., Douglas Fox of Danbury, Conn., Hon. Bruce Fox and his wife Hon. Maria Dominguez of Albuquerque, N.M., and Keith Fox and his wife Dr. Janine Fitzgerald of Hayfield, Colo. A Celebration of Ed’s life will be held at the Plaza Restaurant’s Brass Rail room on Saturday, March 8 at 11:30 a.m. A luncheon will follow. Condolences may be sent to the Westlawn Chapel and Mortuary, 105 S. Arizona Ave., Willcox, AZ 85643, or at Westlawnchapelmortuary.com. The family is requesting that in lieu of flowers, donations in his name be sent to the Charles W. Leighton Jr. Hospice, P.O. Box 115, Willcox, AZ 85644.

Edward B. Fox

April 23, 1927 - January 2, 2014