Obituary

Ben F. Cox III, 67, of Amarillo died Tuesday, March 8, 2011. Services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 10, 2011, at Boxwell Brothers Ivy Chapel, 2800 Paramount Blvd. Burial will be in Plainview Memorial Park Cemetery in Plainview, Texas. Arrangements are by Boxwell Brothers Funeral Directors. Ben was born Feb. 23, 1944, in Plainview, Texas, to Benjamin Franklin Cox Jr. and Audie Mae Bynum Cox. He lived in Amarillo the last 30 years. He worked for the Amarillo Independent School District, retiring after 22 years as foreman for the bus mechanics. He fought a long battle with lung cancer. His joys in life included camping and fishing at Greenbelt Lake, good jokes, spending time with and picking on his grandchildren and NASCAR. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Barbara Waldie; a son, Randy Harrison; and a niece, Beverly Hall Bennett. Ben is survived by his wife, Sherrie Cox of Amarillo; two daughters, Catheron Contreras and her husband, Randy, and Debbi Roark and her husband, Phillip, all of Amarillo; a son, Rick Parrott and his wife, Libby, of Sweetwater, Texas; a daughter-in-law, Kara Harrison of Amarillo; two sisters, Edna Sanders and her husband, Leonard, of Topeka, Kan., and Mary Hall and her husband, Richard, of Dumas; eight grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. The family suggests memorials be sent to BSA Hospice, Box 950, Amarillo, TX 79105; or the American Cancer Society , 3915 Bell St., Amarillo, TX 79109.