Longtime Hyattville/Big Horn County, Wyoming resident Ted Cox, 84, passed away on Thursday, April 26, 2012 at the Bonnie Bluejacket Memorial Nursing Home between Basin and Greybull. Ted was born Feb. 29, 1928 in Olney, Ill., the youngest of four children. His father was a job printer, printing such things as high school annuals, circus handbills, business forms and election ballots. Ted sometimes helped in proofreading.

Ted attended elementary and high school in Olney. He graduated from McKendree College in Lebanon, Ill. and held a Master of Divinity degree from Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, N.Y. Ted enlisted and served in the U.S. Army in the occupation of Korea from 1946 to 1947.

Ted married Ruth Ann Johnston in Salem, Ill. on June 3, 1950 while they were students at McKendree. They were married on a Saturday, he conducted worship services on Sunday and they began summer school on Monday 40 miles away. He credited his success to his wife who kept him at his studies while doing all his typing. Together Ted and Ruth Ann served for the United Methodist Churches in Illinois, Colorado, New York, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Ted was chaplain at the Wyoming Retirement Center and Wyoming Pioneer Home.

Ted and Ruth had five children and more than 60 grandchildren and great-grandchildren including some who were adopted or acquired through marriages. They chose to accept them all as their own children.

Ted was an avid hunter and fisherman. His greatest passion was hunting elk. He hunted through hunting season 2008 with a final elk count of more than 50. Ted and Ruth Ann loved to travel and visited six continents. Ruth Ann was a constant helpmate to Ted and was instrumental in him enjoying his final years.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Stuart and John Cox; and one sister, Mary Lou Cox.

Ted is survived by his wife, Ruth Ann of Hyattville; his five children, Bob (Christine) Cox, Harold (Adriane) Cox, Don (Vickie) Cox, Mary Anne Cox (Evan Royal) and Brenda (Steve) Cox Cowan; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Northern Wyoming Daily News (Worland, WY) - May 1, 2012