Milden Jean Fox, Jr. (Bob)
August 2, 1926 – December 16, 2015
Milden Jean Fox, Jr. (Bob) died peacefully at his home Wednesday evening, December 16, 2015. His beloved wife Pat was with him. Bob and Pat lived and loved together for nearly 60 years and she truly was the love of his life. They began their life together in Houston in 1957 and moved to Bryan in 1964.
Bob was born August 2, 1926 to Jean and Edith Fox in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He had a long and distinguished career and life. He left high school before graduation in 1944, to enlist in the Navy, where he was selected for the Navy’s prestigious V-12 Program, attending the University of New Mexico before he was called to active service. He served in both World War II and the Korean Conflict. He remained in the Naval Reserves for 27 years, ending his career with the rank of Commander heading the Naval Engineering Unit headquartered in Galveston, Texas.
After completing his initial naval service, Bob attended Oklahoma A&M University (now Oklahoma State University), graduating in 1948 with a Bachelor in Industrial Engineering. He also received his Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from Oklahoma A&M. While at the University of New Mexico, Bob pledged Sigma Chi and continued that association at Oklahoma A&M. He later became a Life Loyal Sig. He was the founding Chapter Advisor for Eta Upsilon chapter at Texas A&M University. He enjoyed many Wild Game Dinners over the years and valued his many Sigma Chi brothers.
Bob began his professional career with Shell Oil Company and he later worked for National Tank Company and Clayton Boiler Services. He was a Registered Professional Engineer in three states: Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana; where he was recently honored by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal for 50 years as a Registered Professional Engineer in that state.
In 1963, while spending the night in College Station on a business trip, Bob was offered a position on Texas A&M University, Industrial Engineering Department’s faculty. Bob moved from industry into academia, beginning a 30-year career with Texas A&M University. He received his PhD from Texas A&M University in Industrial Engineering in 1969. He later became a full Professor and later a Professor Emeritus of the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department.
Through his academic study of the differences in efficiencies in union and non-union petrochemical facilities along the Texas Gulf Coast, Bob became interested in labor arbitration. He became a professional arbitrator and was honored by an appointment to the National Academy of Arbitrators in 1978. He remained an active labor arbitrator into his late 80s. Bob wrote several hundred awards and even had an opinion upheld by the US Supreme Court, in the Misco v. United Paperworkers decision.
Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Milden Sr. and Edith; and his sister, Francis Sage. He is survived by his wife Pat, son Tom and daughter-in-law Michele of Houston, daughter Mary Seals and son-in-law Freddie from Philadelphia, Tennessee and grandchildren Benjamine Seals and wife Amanda and three great-grandchildren Michaela, Asa, and Elyssa all from Sugar Hill, Georgia and Paris Fox, from Ashland, Oregon.
A Memorial Service honoring Bob’s life will be held at First United Methodist Church, 506 E 28th St, Bryan, Texas on Monday, December 21, 2015 at 11 AM.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Bob’s name to one of the following:
Sigma Chi Foundation
Attn: Dianna Morgan
1714 Hinman Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201
US Naval Memorial Foundation
701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20004
Creek Indian Scholarship Foundation
Higher Ed. Scholarship Foundation Program
Muscogee (Creek) Nation
PO Box 580, Okmulgee, OK 74447
Mary, just heard about your Dad. What a wonderful–and colorful–man he was. He was proud of you and your family and he lives on through you. Everyone has our prayers. Blessings, Sandy