Former Lampasas County commissioner Jack Byron Cox, 83, died Jan. 29, 2023, in Lampasas.
Memorial services will be held at Sneed-Carnley Funeral Chapel on Feb. 11 at 1 p.m.
Cox was born on Nov. 8, 1939 in Lampasas County to J. Herman and Bethel Dee (Mitchell) Cox and was raised in Adamsville.
He went to school in Adamsville through the eighth grade and then graduated from Lampasas High School in 1958.
After graduation, Cox spent the summer in Idaho fighting fires with the Forest Service. He often talked about how he hitchhiked all the way from Idaho back to Adamsville.
He began working for the Texas Highway Department as an engineering technician on road projects throughout Central Texas, including the Fort Hood military base. After about 10 years, he advanced to the position of field engineer.
Cox was the engineer for construction of a new bridge to replace the swinging bridge across the Colorado River at Bend.
He advanced to the position of project manager in the Waco and Brownwood districts for TxDOT.
He also worked at Southern Savings and Loan before his retirement in 2002.
Cox ran for Precinct 4 county commissioner in 2002 and served three terms.
He coached T-ball and took his team to Storm’s Drive-in after each game. He also assisted with the county livestock show, and devoted time to aiding local youth, his children and grandchildren in raising the best show steers.
Though Cox was not an avid hunter, he enjoyed October trips to Iowa and his pheasant hunts.
He also was a rancher and loved driving his Jeep and giving the grandchildren rides. His favorite place probably was the ranch. He would delight listeners with a multitude of stories, one being his days in drag car racing.
He and his wife, Terri, loved to dance. He aspired to be a true Texas gentleman cowboy.
Cox was preceded in death by his brother, Stanley Cox, and by a granddaughter, Jordan Evans.
Survivors include his wife, Terri Cox; sons Lance Cox (Shirley), Scott Cox (Leslie), Tim Cox (Dana) and Ryan Evans (Andi); daughters Kristin Evans (Scott), Jodi Seefeldt (Jeff) and Nicole Ewing (Ron); 13 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
