Posted on Tue, Oct. 20, 2009
Eugene L. Fox, 85, a Defense Department inspector, died of heart failure Thursday at home in Marmora, N.J.
For more than 20 years, Mr. Fox was with the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Inspector General. Headquartered in Philadelphia, he traveled all over the world checking defense purchases, his son Thomas said. He retired in 1984.
Mr. Fox grew up in Springfield, Delaware County, and graduated from West Philadelphia Catholic High School. During World War II, he served in the Coast Guard as a pharmacist's mate aboard the transport ship Eberle in the Philippines. With no physicians available, he cared for ill shipmates, including performing an emergency appendectomy, his son said.
Mr. Fox married Florence J. Meighan and studied premed at Columbia University. When their first child was born, they moved to Delaware County and he went to work for Atlantic Refining. He earned a bachelor's degree at night from St. Joseph's University. Later, he and his wife lived in West Philadelphia before moving to Cape May County 25 years ago.
In addition to his son, Mr. Fox is survived by sons Edward, John, and Vincent; daughters Eileen McGovern, Sheila Glavin, and Julia Overly; a brother; 27 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife and by children Eugene Jr., James, and Rita Rafferty.
Friends may call from 9 to 10 a.m. today at Williams Lombardo Funeral Home, 33 W. Baltimore Ave., Clifton Heights. A Funeral Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. today at St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church, 136 Saxer Ave., Springfield. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.
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