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Kendall Boice Cox
Born: 1/28/1925
Died: 11/15/2015
Age: 90
Community: Flushing, MI
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Cox, Kendall Boice of Flushing, age 90, died Sunday, November 15, 2015, at his home. Visitation will be 2-8 p.m. Friday, November 20, 2015, at Rossell Funeral Home. If desired, memorial contributions may be made to WKAR 90.5 Public Radio Station in East Lansing.
Kendall was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 28, 1925. He grew up at 1135 Spruce Street in Winnetka, Illinois and attended North Shore Country Day School for all of his primary and secondary education. He graduated in 1943, just in time to serve his country during World War II from June of 1943 to July of 1945.
Upon returning from his service, Kendall attended multiple Universities seeking to find an academic home. He attended Northwestern University and UCLA before deciding upon Black Mountain College, where he would pursue Architecture. He loved his time at Black Mountain; it was there he learned Architecture was not for him. He left to attend Oberlin College, where he pursued his passion of Philosophy and met his life-long friends, Alex and Ellie Heingartner.
After graduating from Oberlin, Kendall completed graduate work at University of Michigan, where he earned his Doctoral degree in 1963 and took his first professorial position at North Dakota State University. In 1966, he left North Dakota for “the riverfront campus of the University of Michigan in Flint,” where he taught in the Philosophy department until he retired in 1989. He taught Logic, Ethics, Philosophy of Art and other courses.
Although he made a living as a Philosophy Professor, he lived for Photography. Kendall grew up in a family that loved capturing moments in time, whether in still images or in moving pictures. His main hobby was taking pictures and although his subjects varied, his favorites were of landscapes and architecture. He loved to travel to beautiful places to photograph them. His two primary destinations were the United Kingdom and the North Woods of Wisconsin. In both places, Kendall could be found with an inordinate amount of photographic equipment doing feasibility studies. He would spend hours deliberately setting up his equipment, then patiently wait for the light to be just so, for the last pedestrian to exit the frame, before he snapped a photo. Once home from a trip, he would spend the remainder of the year carefully poring over negatives to decide which would take a permanent place in his vast slide collection.
Kendall loved being a member of the Flushing community, where he had lived longer than he had anywhere else. He could virtually quote from Edward G. Love’s The Situation in Flushing and found great pleasure in the scenic river scape of the town. He loved his daily constitutionals in his neighborhood and could be seen all over town in his 1972 Checker Marathon running errands to local businesses and taking his kids to and from school, to the Flushing A &W, Roaring 20’s or to the “wood park” down by the river.
Kendall was a witty, inquiring, intelligent, just, patient, gentle, generous, and self-deprecating man who enjoyed simple pleasures such as reading over lengthy breakfasts, writing correspondence with friends and family, listening to public radio, watching old movies, sharing his slides, playing with his children and having great conversation with those he loved over good food and good drink. Kendall had a love of trains, England, Laurel and Hardy, Art, Literature, Theatre, Architecture and symphonic music. He balanced those intellectual pursuits with tennis and swimming.
Kendall was an excellent and loving father, companion, friend, uncle and family member who enthusiastically shared his passions with all who knew him. He was a raconteur who knew how to tell a good story, whether about his time during the war or about his great grand father Orrin Kendall and the origins of OK. Always patient, Kendall was a man who could never say NO and in doing so, allowed his children to discover their own limits, paths forward and their own moral compasses. He taught his family and all who knew him how to give generously, live gently and justly, follow passions, be present, be a good citizen, love, and to value humanity and the planet. He was the best of men and will be missed.
He is survived by his children, Julia Ann Cox, Jesse Boice Cox, Kendall Malcolm Cox and wife, Tricia Fremouw; former wife and life companion, Amy Aletha Cox; sister-in-law, Beatrice Cox; niece, Carol and husband Bob Hartman and their children, Pam Hartman and Brian Hartman; nephew, Edward and wife Lori Cox and their children, Lisa Cox Cray and Kristin Cox Spurlock; mother-in-law, Jerie Morrison and husband, Mike Morrison; sister-in-law, Lorie Vizard-Abbott and son, Kastle Abbott; sister-in-law, Dana Vizard and husband Brian Burrows and their children, Melissa McConnell, Kylee Burrows, and Luke Burrows; sister-in-law, Katy Herriman and husband, Dave Herriman and their children Henrik and Ivan Herriman; father-in-law, Mike Vizard and wife, Linda Vizard; father-in-law, Larry Hackman and wife, Elizabeth Carere and their children; beloved friends, Alex Heingartner and family; devoted friend, Ralph Arellano, as well as many other dear family members and dear friends. Kendall was preceded in death by his brother, Arthur Malcolm Cox. |
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| Visitation |
| Date: |
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11/20/2015 |
| Time: |
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2:00 PM |
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| Funeral Service |
| No Service |
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