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Charles "Charlie Boy" Cox
The man who loved working with wood and turned a four-man business into an industry which now employees 743 people has died.
Charles "Charlie Boy" Cox, 76, of Landon Lane in Campbellsville, died Monday at 6:55 p.m. of an inoperable brain tumor, according to his long-time bookkeeper Lillian Lawhorn.
"I couldn't begin to tell you what a fine gentleman he was," Lawhorn said. "I can't think of anyone who has done any more for the people of this community than he has."
Cox and his wife were significant contributors to both the Hiestand House Museum and the Atkinson-Griffin House Museum, said Betty Jane Gorin, a historian.
"His community spirit was so commendable. I feel we've lost a really strong community leader," Gorin continued.
Trim from Cox Interior has been donated to numerous churches and other civic and community projects over the years, according to Lanny Cox, a salesman who started work with Cox when Cox Interior began in 1983.
"He was a man who wouldn't ask you to do anything that he wouldn't do," Druin said. "He's done a heck of a job. He brought a whole lot to the wood industry."
According to Druin and Richard Kearnes, another long-time employee, Cox accidentally met a man from Eugene, Ore. who helped him turn his vision into an industry. Cox picked Hugh Phelps' brain about how to start a trim business from scratch. Phelps trained Druin, Kearnes and Bradley Taylor in the use of equipment and as they say - the rest is history.
Cox saw a plentiful supply of poplar and started using the wood, at first shipped in from West Virginia, to make the trim and molding. Much of the poplar used today, since Cox Interior has its own kiln, comes from local sources.
In the early days, Cox and his employees would make do with equipment they could find, according to Kearnes. The business grew and so did the scope of Cox Interior.
"You always had a lot of respect for Mr. Cox," said Druin. "He knew what hard work was about and he expected that from his employees."
Cox retired in 1993 and turned the business over to his children. Cox Interior continues to be a cornerstone of the woodworking business.
Cox Interior is the fifth largest buyer of wood in the United States.
The nickname "Charlie Boy" stuck for life after a neighbor, Charlie Malone, called him that when he was a little boy.
He was the son of the late Otha Lee Cox and Toncie McDonald Cox and was born Oct. 28, 1925 in Taylor County.
He was a member of Campbellsville Christian Church.
He was also a veteran of World War II having served in the U.S. Army, attaining the rank of Technician Fifth Grade with the 410th Engineer Construction Battalion.
He and George A. Cox founded Cox Weather-Stripping, which later became Mannsville Sash & Door and Cox Cabinet Co.
He married
Helen Bohanon Dec. 16, 1944.
Besides his wife, he is survived by three sons and one daughter: Barry Cox and his wife, Lucy, Lanny Cox and his wife, Joyce, Kay Cox Legg and her husband, Larry, all of Campbellsville, and Steve Cox, Louisville; eight grandchildren: Jennifer Taylor, Benji Cox, Aaron Cox, and Carol Simmons of Campbellsville, Grant Cox, Landon Cox and Lanai Cox of Louisville and Leigh Ann Simmons of Cincinnati; five great-grandchildren: Morgan Taylor and Cayela Taylor of Campbellsville, Austin Cox of Columbia and Ashton Cox and Cody Ogden of Louisville; three sisters and four brothers: Kenneth Cox of Campbellsville, William A. Cox, Carl Cox, Evelyn Meadows, Mary Waller, Sylvia Graybeal and Cozetta Allen of Louisville; several nieces and nephews and many other relatives and friends.
Two brothers preceded him in death: Daniel and Wallace Cox.
Funeral service was held Thursday, Oct. 3 at the Parrott & Ramsey Funeral Home in Campbellsville. The Rev. L. Carmen King and Dr. Paul W. Patton officiated.
Burial was in the Brookside Cemetery with full military honors by the Marion County Veterans' Honor Guard.
Pallbearers were Brent Cox, Jerry Cox, Lester Cox, Bud Crane, Kenneth Goff, Johnnie Pennington, Walter Rhodes and Wayne Scott.
Memorial donations can be made to the Charles E. Cox Scholarship Fund at Campbellsville University.
Cox Interior established the endowed scholarship in memory of its founder. The scholarship will be available to full-time students enrolled at Campbellsville University who are either current employees of Cox Interior or children of the company's employees. Recipients will be eligible for a maximum award of $500 per semester as awarded by the university.
Those wishing to contribute to the scholarship or want further information about it may contact the university's Office of Development by calling 789-5211 or by e-mailing development@campbellsville.edu.
Alice Ramsey
Alice Ramsey, 88, Somerset, Ky., formerly of Columbia, Ky., died on Friday, Sept. 27, 2002, at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital in Somerset.
She was the daughter of the late Everett and Lucille Bell McGaha Beard, and was a homemaker.
Survivors include four daughters, Carolyn Sue Burton of Columbia, Margaret Emerson of Whiteland, Ind., Betty Jo Mitchell of Franklin, Ind., and Katy Lou McQueary of Campbellsville; two sons, Ronnie Lee Ramsey and Robert Eugene Ramsey; 20 grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
She was also preceded in death by three daughters, Ave Marie Burton, Linda Lee Ramsey and Upetuna Bottoms.
Funeral was at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 29 at Stotts-Phelps-McQueary Funeral Home in Columbia. Burial was in Columbia Cemetery. Bro. Larry Brown officiated.
Pallbearers were Dwayne Burton, Glenn Burton, James Haselwood, Osby Karnes Jr., and Kenny England.
Delmar Hayes
Delmar Hayes, 80, of Elkhorn, Ky., died on Friday, Oct. 4, 2002, in Campbellsville as the result of an automobile accident.
Son of the late Luther Hayes and Catherine Herron Hayes, he was born on Aug. 6, 1922 in Taylor County, Ky., and was a member of Stoner Creek United Methodist Church.
Hayes was a retired construction worker, truck driver and farmer. He also served during World War II as a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps.
He was married
to Bernice Herron on March 27, 1943, who survives.
Other survivors include, one son and three daughters, Carroll R. Hayes and Vivian Cochran, both of Elkhorn, and Delilah Cruse and Tonya Crain, both of Buffalo; 10 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and one brother, Kenneth Hayes of Elkhorn.
Funeral was at 2 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7 at Parrott & Ramsey Funeral Home in Campbellsville. Burial was in Campbellsville Memorial Gardens. The Rev. Gene Shields officiated.
Pallbearers were Dennis Bays, Rudolph Cox, Tim Cox, Miles Crain, Aaron Cruse, Todd Cruse and Mike Helm.
Judy A. Bryant
Judy A. Bryant, 55 of Columbia, Ky., died on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2002, at Summit Manor Nursing Home in Columbia after a long illness.
She was the daughter of G.B. and Christine Montgomery Bardin of Columbia, and was a member of Freedom Separate Baptist Church and a homemaker.
Besides her parents, Bryant is survived by her husband, Lewis Bryant of Columbia; two sons, James Lewis Bryant and his wife Maria Rosa and Christopher Wade Bryant, both of Columbia; three brothers, Jackie Bardin, Phillip Bardin, and Steve Bardin, all of Columbia; one sister, Janice Downey of Greensburg; and one granddaughter, Shelby Rosa Bryant.
Funeral was at 1 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 8 at Stotts-Phelps-McQueary Funeral Home in Columbia. Burial was in Freedom Cemetery. Bro. Carlie Riggs and Bro. Jim Goff officiated.
Pallbearers were Barry Bardin, Chad Bardin, Greg Bardin, Stacy Huff, Brandon White and Joey White.
The family requests that expressions of sympathy should take the form of donations to the American Cancer Society.
