Leslie Record Cox Jr (1930 - 2011)

Born 17 Jul 1930 in Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Lois Dorothy (Field) Cox — married 3 Sep 1955 in Rutherford, NJ

Descendants

Died 22 Nov 2011 at age 81 in Fairfield, Essex, New Jersey, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Nancy Wilson [send private message]

Biography

Leslie was a member of the Donald Gage singers

Leslie was born in 1930. He was the son of Leslie Record Cox Sr. (1893-1952) and Flora Belle (Tipton) Cox (1895-1961) He contracted polio as a young child when he was living in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. The Lyndhurst School System would not accept him due to his inability to walk but neighboring Rutherford, would, so his parents paid tuition to Rutherford so he could go to school there. ^[1]They eventually moved there. ^[2]

Les graduated from Rutherford High School and went to his father's Alma Mater, Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana. He is recorded in the 1950 census in Wabash, Indiana while a student there. ^[3]He graduated in 1952 with a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering. Meanwhile, his parents moved to Berkeley Heights, NJ to be closer to Les, Sr work at Bell Labs in Murray Hill. His father passed away in January of his senior year at Purdue. Les told his children of the story of hitchhiking home from college when his father passed away. He had never been to the house in Berkeley Heights and spent a night outside so he wouldn't wake his mother up when he got there.^[4] After college, Les took a cross country road trip with a friend. It was an experience he spoke of often to his children. ^[5] Les had a deep baritone voice. In high school, he 'stole the show' when he starred in an operetta. ^[6] He met his future wife, Lois when they were singing together professionally in the early 1950s. Les enjoyed singing throughout his life, and sang professionally as a young man. ^[7]

Les married Lois (Field) Cox in 1955 and had 4 children including,Nancy Wilson, He spent his entire working career at Curtis Wright Corporation. He was a member of the First Reformed Church in Pompton Plains for many years and was active in the church choir. He was also a member of the Disc 55 Club. He passed away in 2011. ^[8]His ashes are buried at the First Reformed Church Cemetery, Pompton Plains, New Jersey.^{[9] [10]}

Sources

1. ↑ Cox, Lois. Cox/Field family history. 1994 in possession of Nancy Wilson
2. ↑ * 1940 Census: "1940 United States Federal Census"
   Year: 1940; Census Place: Rutherford, Bergen, New Jersey; Roll: m-t0627-02314; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 2-322
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2442 #130891334 (accessed 4 April 2022)
   Leslie R Cox Jr (9), single son, in household of Leslie R Cox (47) in Rutherford, Bergen, New Jersey. Born in New Jersey.
3. ↑ * 1950 Census: "1950 United States Federal Census"
   United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Wabash, Tippecanoe, Indiana; Roll: 3554; Sheet Number: 3; Enumeration District: 79-71A
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 62308 #131446008 (accessed 2 April 2023)
   Leslie R Cox (19), single lodger, in household of Jack R Warner (37) in Wabash, Tippecanoe, Indiana, USA. Born in New Jersey.
4. ↑ Nancy Wilson.Personal recollection
5. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70662481/the-herald-news/?fbclid=IwAR0JYyQ_qcZIcLP0F9jCHi_f8XagSQHJ8kjZ44ULboWm0l8hCeNVhinwy28
6. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70662481/the-herald-news/?fbclid=IwAR0JYyQ_qcZIcLP0F9jCHi_f8XagSQHJ8kjZ44ULboWm0l8hCeNVhinwy28
7. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70687350/les-cox-sings-messiah-in-1957/
8. ↑ * "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKWP-7CMT : accessed 11 February 2020), Leslie Cox in entry for Leslie R Cox Jr, Newark, New Jersey, United States, 25 Nov 2011; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing Star-Ledger, The, born-digital text.
9. ↑ Nancy Wilson.Personal recollection
10. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 30 July 2020), memorial page for Leslie R. Cox Jr. (1930–2011), Find A Grave: Memorial #187868220, citing First Reformed Church Cemetery, Pompton Plains, Morris County, New Jersey, USA ; Maintained by Kat (contributor 19409629) .

See also:

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 03 March 2020, 20:33), entry for Leslie Record Cox Jr.(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LT7B-CWH); contributed