David Vernon Fox

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of our beloved husband and father David Vernon Fox after a short illness. Dad was our leader in playful silliness and good-humored fun. Joyous and endearing. Oolombamba!

Dave is survived by his wife of 59 years, Anne Gilbert Fox; his children Andrew Fox (Melissa) of Los Alamos, NM; Suzanne Wilson (Steve) of Santa Fe, NM; John Fox (Meghan), of Durango, CO; and his grandchildren Elizabeth Wilson, Nolan Fox, Ryan Guenther, Cottrell G. Fox, Christopher Wilson, Ethan Fox, and Bentley Furda; his brother Cottrell Fox of St. Louis; and his Sister-in-Law Barcy Fox (Carl) of Santa Fe.

Dave was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 8, 1938 to Dorothy Vernon Fox and A. Cottrell Fox. He grew up in the wonderful leafy St. Louis suburb of Webster Groves with two brothers, Carl and Cottrell Fox, and many close family members. He was a student leader and a skilled athlete in both football and baseball. He graduated from Webster Groves High School in 1956 and went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for two years. He then joined the US Marine Corp and served for 4 years. He spent time in Japan and learned the Japanese language. He was discharged just before the start of the Vietnam War, but both of his brothers served in Vietnam. He went back to college at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri and got his degree in English Creative Writing.

He met the love of his life, Anne, when they were in their early teens living across the street from each other.  They were great friends and he would drive her to school. They started dating when he was at the University of Missouri, and they fell in love. He would drive to Webster Groves from Columbia in a car with no heat in the winter just to spend time with her.

They married in October of 1964 and moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where Dave was in a management training program for Armstrong Cork Company. They lived there for two years and had their first son, Andrew (Andy), while there. They moved back to Webster Groves in 1966 to be closer to family. Dave took a job a BHN Advertising where he was an account executive. Their daughter, Suzanne (Suzy), was born in 1969, and their son John (Charlie) was born in 1977.

Dave had a burning desire to own his own business. He looked at many options including hardware stores and ice cream shops. He traveled to New Mexico to look at a potential hardware store to buy. The realtor brought him to Los Alamos to show him Metzger’s Hardware Store as a good example. He started to purchase a hardware store in Eagle, CO, but the deal fell through. As luck would have it, the father of one of Suzy’s friends in St. Louis, the son of Dick Clement, contacted Dave to tell him of a department store that was for sale in Los Alamos, Clement & Benner.

In May 1979, Dave and Anne visited Los Alamos to see Clement & Benner. They flew in on a Friday, toured the store on a Saturday, a realtor showed them three homes being built on North Mesa on Sunday, and returned to St. Louis on Sunday night. Dave agonized over the decision to buy the store, and after crunching the numbers, he decided they could do it. They chose to purchase the least expensive of the three homes they saw over the phone. Dave left St. Louis with Andy and Suzy, leaving Anne and John behind to sell their house, and join them later in Los Alamos. Dave dove head-first into running a successful business, and used his immense creativity to manage each department, including developing events and advertisements that were fun and zany, and always quite memorable.

Every Saturday after Thanksgiving, Dave would don his Santa suit and see child after child to hear their Christmas wishes. He was supposed to be there from 11-3, but he wouldn’t leave until every child in line had been seen and heard. On several occasions, a child showed up after “Santa” had left the building, but he would get their name and number, delighting them with a surprise personal phone call from Santa!

Dave started the Pajarito Greenhouse out of his backyard in Pajarito Acres in 1994, and closed it in 2018. Gardening was a passion of Dave’s and it was a wonderful outlet for him and a great benefit to the community. His passion for nature and gardening led him to be an early and enthusiastic supporter of the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC).

Dave was an active and passionate member of the community, and led many efforts to stimulate the revitalization of downtown Los Alamos. His remodel of the facade of CB Fox in 1992 was the start of this initiative. For years during Winter Fest, Dave would personally purchase gift certificates from other community businesses and included them in the drawings at CB Fox to encourage and incentivize the patronage of local businesses. He was an active member of the Los Alamos Tourism Working Group for many years. 

Dave owned CB Fox from 1979 until 2020 when he and Anne, and Andy retired. It was a bittersweet moment for all of them as the store brought so many wonderful people into their lives, and served as the heart of the downtown for many years.

After retirement, Dave returned to another one of his passions, creative writing, especially writing poetry. He loved to share his poems with all who would listen. He was a true lover of nature, birds and flowers which inspired much of the poetry he wrote.

Dave will be missed by all who knew him, especially his family who he loved deeply, and entertained wildly!  Oolombamba DadDave!

There will be celebration of life on April 5, 2024 at Fuller Lodge beginning at 11a.m.

In Lieu of flowers, donations can be made the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC), Think New Mexico, or The Nature Conservancy.

The family would especially like to thank Amor, LLC for the amazing end of life care they provided. The caregivers were incredibly compassionate and wonderful people, and took such great care of Dave in his final weeks.

Please leave messages of condolence, stories and pictures in an online album for the Fox family to look back on.