Bob Cox, a passionate and beloved former English teacher and department chair at Ridgefield High School from the 1970s to the 2000s, died on August 6 at Danbury Hospital following a recent surgery. He was 77 years old.
Robert A. Cox was born on July 8, 1947 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Harmer and Inez Cox. Mr. Cox grew up primarily in Stamford, Connecticut. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in English from St. Francis College (Pa.) and a master’s degree from State University of New York at Stony Brook. Following a two-year stint teaching at the now-defunct Immaculata High School in Manhattan’s East 30s, Mr. Cox took a job at Ridgefield High School, where he taught full-time until 2003. Following his retirement from the high school, Mr. Cox was elected to Ridgefield’s Board of Education, on which he served one term. Mr. Cox later taught at Fairfield University and Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba, IsraeI.
Fueled by his passion for literature, poetry, film, and journalism, his joy in helping adolescents and young adults find light and potential within themselves, and copious amounts of Diet Pepsi, Mr. Cox inspired thousands of students during his teaching across five decades. His former students have published books, run national news desks, produced award-winning television shows, served as the chief speechwriter to a U.S. president, and achieved successes in countless other endeavors. Most important of all to him, Mr. Cox was witness to them finding purpose and happiness in their everyday lives. At the conclusion of each school year, Mr. Cox often gave his students a list of “10 Books to Read and 10 Movies to See Before You Die” and told them that if they were ever in trouble, they could call him and he would try to help.
In 1988, Mr. Cox drew the attention (and ire) of some Ridgefielders for a lawsuit he and students he was advising brought against the Town and the Board of Education. The suit challenged the school system’s ban on certain submissions to the student-run art and literary journal, Lodestar. Mr. Cox and the students believed that the ban was pretext for censorship of controversial views and fought it. Following more than a year of litigation, the case settled and the challenged ban was withdrawn. In a Ridgefield Press article reporting on the settlement, the Student Press Law Center’s executive director described the Lodestar case as “the most significant case going on around the country today in the area of student press rights.”
Beyond his dedication to the high school’s students, Mr. Cox wrote a regular political opinion column for the Ridgefield Press in the 1980s, tackling issues of local, national, and international scope, and, to his delight, often finding readers willing to joust with him and his ideas. In 1987, one of Mr. Cox’s columns received recognition from the New England Press Association. That same year, he was instrumental in the establishment of Ridgefield’s A Better Chance program, which has provided motivated and talented young women of color with educational opportunities in town for more than 35 years. Mr. Cox served as the inaugural house parent for two years, while continuing to help raise his own two school-age children. In 1990, Mr. Cox was the first male recipient of the Clare Morgan Hatch Award, given by the Connecticut Chapter of the National Organization of Women for service and dedication to women’s issues.
Mr. Cox is survived by his children, Jennifer Ansley and Christopher Cox, and their spouses, Carl Ansley and Lee Ann Gschwind; his three grandchildren, Lucy Ansley, Christopher Ansley, and Logan Cox; his brother, John Cox, and sisters, Karen Litzenberger and Colleen Stone; nieces Erin, Megan, Kelley, and Katherine, and nephew Robert; and innumerable former students and friends who he loved (and was loved by) like family. He was predeceased by his parents, a brother, Thomas, and his dear friend, Beryl Rowland.
A memorial service honoring his life will be held at the Lounsbury House, 316 Main Street in Ridgefield, on Sunday, August 25 at 1pm.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Ridgefield A Better Chance, P.O. Box 1044, Ridgefield, CT 06877 | Tax ID: 06-1156849 | https://ridgefieldabc.org/donation.