Philip Fox (SAA Class of 1957)

May 31, 1943­–June 21, 2022

Philip Fox, CPA, had a plan in life and in death. Born in San Antonio, Texas, he was raised by his widowed mother, two older sisters, grandparents and uncle. He was a quiet man, who was not a man of words, but a man of numbers. He was a wiz at math and money.

In 1965, he graduated from The University of Texas with a degree in accounting and became a Certified Public Accountant. That same year, he married his polar opposite, Carol Singer Fox. She is into home decorating, master gardening and reading novels … and he was not. They were married for 57 years, until his death. Their pride and joy were their four children and nine grandchildren.

Philip was the rare person who was truly passionate about his work: finance, taxes and money. He began his career at Ernst and Ernst. He became a partner at Wallingford, Flavin & Fox in the 1970s. Later, he became the senior partner in his firm, which eventually became Weaver, a Texas-based, national accounting firm. He always thought of his clients, even in his retirement, many of whom he loyally worked with for more than 40 years.

Philip believed in investing and saving. Throughout his life, he set and met financial goals.

Philip was a sports car guy. He drove an Austin Healy in high school. Among his many other cars were an Acura NSX, Volkswagen Super Beetle, BMW, Mazda RX7, Mercedes Benz AMG and Camaro. For two years, he spent nights and weekends rebuilding a 1963 convertible Corvette roadster with his business partners who co-owned the car. The roadster won a trophy at the Texas Corvette Expo in Houston.

As an avid car enthusiast, Car and Driver magazines filled the house, and dinnertime conversations centered around cars. Philip fulfilled his lifelong dream of owning a Porsche 911 as his final car.

Philip was handy and could figure out anything. He could fix his teenagers’ wrecked cars, his aging homes or anything in need of repair. His trick was three ingredients: duct tape, Bondo and WD-40. He helped his children pass their math classes, and he was the assistant coach of their soccer teams. He never missed his children’s band recitals, swim meets or birthdays. He spent many weekends maintaining the pool and mowing the lawn while smoking a pipe or cigar to keep the mosquitos away. Despite these talents, he was a terrible speller, and he disliked clothes shopping and onions.

Philip traveled the world with his family throughout Europe and Latin America. He happily spent his holidays with his large, close-knit family in San Antonio and San Angelo. He loved watching Formula One races; his beloved Houston sports teams, the Astros and Texans; and his stock market shows.

Philip loved to eat. He had a bottomless stomach that he filled with meat, Snickers, cinnamon rolls, and Tex-Mex food – without ever gaining a pound.

He left this earth as he lived it: quietly but with great resolve. He was never one to complain and faced life and death in a matter-of-fact way. Although he had the physically and cognitively debilitating condition of Parkinson’s Disease, he made his wishes clear. He died with dignity at home, surrounded by family, friends and his sheltie, Foxy, who rarely left his side.

His survivors are wife Carol; children Wendy, Corey, Hilary and Mandy; sons-in-law Don and Pete; grandchildren Zoe, Jonas, Casey, Brady, Haley, Cameron, Quinn, Dylan and Chloe. In his last selfless act, he donated his body to UT Health McGovern Medical School for Parkinson’s Disease research and education. 

Originally published by the Jewish Herald-Voice.