On the 50-year anniversary of our father’s passing, we wish to pay tribute to him for being a great father and husband, but mostly for his involvement and support of the local community.
John Harold Fox (better known as “Johnny”) was born in Luray on June 24, 1915, and died on November 10, 1973, at the age of 58. He grew up in Luray, and, like many his age, dropped out of school in eighth grade to help support his family. On July 3, 1940, he married our mother, Lillian Keyser Fox, who passed away five years ago on April 24, 2018. They had four daughters, Diana, Sharon, Lou Ann and Terri; Sharon passed away in 2020.
Johnny Fox served in the Army during WWII and, except for his service to the country, worked in the Luray community his entire life. We recall his stories from being a bellhop at the former Mansion Inn Hotel, a clerk at the local hardware store (near the railroad tracks; now Valley Cork) and a meat cutter at the Sanitary Market (later Center Market and currently Gathering Grounds). He got his start in auto body work at Keyser Motor Company owned by our grandfather and great-uncle, eventually buying and operating his own business that many will remember, Fox Auto Body Shop on Mechanic Street. He was well known for his excellent craftsmanship, and he probably worked on every car in the county at one time or another.
Johnny was a member of the local Masonic Lodge and a life-long member of St. Mark Lutheran Church. But he is especially remembered for his dedication and sponsorship work in the local Alcoholic Anonymous (AA). Johnny himself was a heavy drinker until 1948 when he joined AA, and he never looked back. He never missed a local meeting, where he was a frequent speaker, telling of his journey and struggles. He sponsored many men and women who were in recovery and spent hours helping them through their own addiction issues. Our father worked long hours at his business six days a week and spent as much time with his family as he could, but he never forgot the gift of help that he received from AA. He never left another person struggling to be sober without offering his constant love and support, at any time, day or night.
We want to share an article written by a Luray citizen on his passing. It was published in the Page News and Courier on Thursday, November 15, 1973:
John Harold Fox
Every community has the sad duty of marking the passing of citizens from time to time that leave the community a poorer place by their loss. Usually, these are those people who seem always to be using time and talents to help their community and its people in some manner. This has been so marked in Luray and Page County many times.
Usually, the deeds of these are so well known that the spotlight of their actions make them known to all, though almost always they act in humility and without thought of recognition.
More rarely though there are those few who engage in acts of charity and love that are so transparent they go almost unnoticed by all except the few involved. Such was Johnny Fox and his efforts to help his fellowman and thus his community. He sought only to repay in some small way the wonderful gift of life that was given to him.
He sought no recognition for his service and found his greatest joy in the same new life he could share and impart to his fellow man. His happiness was in others. He was never too busy for a man in need. His place in the history of our community will probably be recorded only in the memory of those he touched and those who knew him well, but our community feels again the touch of human loss in the passing of Johnny Fox, for those he touched and helped are too many in number to forget.
Diana Edwards, Lou Ann Cave and Terri Gibbs ~ Daughters of the late Johnny Fox of Luray, Va.
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