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Douglas Cox
In Memory of
Douglas Alfred "Doug"
Cox
1937 - 2017
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Obituary for Douglas Alfred "Doug" Cox

Douglas Alfred "Doug"  Cox
Douglas Alfred Cox
September 21, 1937 – November 24, 2017

Doug passed away peacefully on November 24, 2017 at age 80 after a brief and courageous battle with cancer.

He leaves behind his wife of 56 years, Diane, his three children, Andrea, Jeffrey, and Bryan (Shannon), and his cherished grandchildren, Lauren, Allyson, and Hudson. He is also survived by his brother Jim (Marlene), niece Sloane (Mark) and nephews, Jonathan (Sheila), Bradley and Matthew (Kennedy).

Doug was born on September 21, 1937, in Toronto, at the height of the great depression, to Alfred and Nellie Cox. Throughout his life Doug was a study in resilience and perseverance, with a steady, steely determination, and a warm and hearty laugh. He overcame polio in childhood, which caused a weakening in his right leg and pain throughout his life, to star on his high school football team at Scarborough Collegiate, winning the City Championship. After high school, Doug studied to become a chartered accountant, earning his designation in 1960 from Queens University. He began his career at Clarkson Gordon, working long hours and catching the eye of his bosses for his aptitude and work ethic. Around the same time, someone else also caught his eye, a young x-ray technician named Diane Darragh, and on September 9, 1961 they were wed. Daughter, Andrea arrived in 1963 and son Jeff, in 1965.

He continued his business successes, working for a racetrack consortium, managing the business affairs for several businesses, including the one that would bring him and his young family west to Edmonton in 1974, when he purchased Fortier and Associates, a food catering and camp company servicing the oil and gas industry. The Edmonton years were the salad days for Doug, with business successes and a further expanding of the family with the addition of son, Bryan in 1975. Doug ingratiated himself into the Edmonton community, notably as Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Edmonton Eskimos during their string of 5 consecutive Grey Cups. He also served as President of the Board of the Edmonton Philharmonic Orchestra, helping to right the fiscal ship of the organization and sat on the Advisory Board for the Business School at the University of Alberta. He was a member of Young Presidents’ Organization and the World Business Council. Over the years, Doug restructured Fortier and Associates building it into the international consortium Unifor Resource Services with offices in the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

In 1985 Doug was ready for a new adventure. He sold the company and began his next chapter with a move down the QE2 highway, to Calgary, where he became CEO of Herbalife Canada. After Herbalife, Doug returned to the world of entrepreneurship, bringing the Ho Lee Chow restaurant chain to Western Canada and enjoyed a successful decade as a stockbroker until his retirement in 2012.

Doug was brilliant, funny, personable, a passionate reader with encyclopedic knowledge. He also really loved ice cream. Above all, he was kind and honourable. He will be missed.

In lieu of flowers please consider memorial tributes to the Rosedale Hospice in Calgary, where Doug was cared for so compassionately in his final days. Tributes may be made directly to Rosedale Hospice at Hospice Calgary, 1245 70th Avenue SE, Calgary, AB, or phone 403.263.4525 or online at hospicecalgary.ca.
A celebration of life will be held in the Oval Room at the Palliser Hotel (133-9th Avenue SW, Calgary) on Monday, December 11, 2017 at 3:00 pm. To view and share photos, condolences and stories of Doug, please visit www.choicememorial.com.
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