Obituary for William K. Fox by Michael Fox

Dr. William K. Fox of Ojai departed this life on June 21, 2020. Fox lead a full and adventurous life for 79 years. A true Renaissance man, he pursued wide and varied interests. He was born in Ada, Oklahoma, to Kenneth W. and Dorothy Fox on April 12, 1941. He moved with his parents and older sister to Pleasant Hill, California, in 1947. From an early age, Fox was interested in natural history, working as a volunteer at parks and small museums where he learned the scientific methodologies of collecting and cataloguing animal and plant species. He excelled in dance, drama and fencing. Fox attended Diablo Valley College and then San Francisco State University, where he received a bachelor of science degree in biology in 1966. He subsequently moved to Tempe, Arizona, where he attained his Ph.D. in zoology-biology from Arizona State University in 1975. His doctoral dissertation focused on the dynamics of sympatric scorpion populations and was based on his field studies in the Sonoran desert of southwestern Arizona.

While studying at Arizona State, Fox met Elsa A. Diehl, a recent widow with two children, Michael and Karen. William and Elsa were married. To this union was born Joel Kenneth Fox. While living in Tempe, Fox pursued many outdoor interests, introducing his wife and children to backcountry hiking and camping, rock climbing and kayaking. He and Elsa took community-based classes in subjects like jewelry-making, macramé and textile arts, through which they made many diverse and devoted friends.

Following the completion of his studies at Arizona State, Fox accepted an instructor’s position at his old alma mater, Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California. He and his family moved to Benicia, California, where his parents had retired, creating a comfortable and closely knit extended family. Fox’s extensive knowledge of aquatic plants and animals made trips to local beaches into epic, multifamily clam-digging expeditions that were always followed by an equally epic feast of his famous cioppino, which he served in a massive ceramic bowl. The Fox family also explored the forests and historic sites of northern California’s gold country and Elsa’s home state of Wyoming during this period.

In 1975(?), Dr. William Fox accepted an instructor’s position at Ventura County Community College in Ventura, California. The Fox family then relocated to Ventura for a few years before moving to a home in Ojai, California. The Ojai home became Fox’s life work as he renovated, upgraded and reimagined the 1960s ranch house, which is located on an oak-covered corner lot in the town’s exclusive Arbolada district. The house was a family project that instilled a sense of accomplishment and pride in those who lived there.

Through his contacts and friendships at Ventura College, Fox embarked on a typically intensive training in SCUBA diving. In doing this, he discovered the undersea wonders of the Channel Islands and went on to teach students, colleagues and his many, many friends about the fragile and vulnerable ecosystems that exist just below the surface of the ocean.

Fox’s interests took him to the far corners of the globe. Africa, New Zealand, Hawaii and Thailand were just a few of the many beautiful and fascinating places that his wanderlust and voracious quest for knowledge led him to. Always a reader of scientific journals and expedition reports, he wanted to visit the places he read about, meet the people who lived there and experience lifeways that were new to him. Unlike so many armchair explorers, however, he realized his dreams and brought back the stories and the photographs to prove it.

In 1984, Fox and his sons travelled to Panama, where they trekked across the Continental Divide, traversing the jungle environment from the Pacific to Atlantic coasts.

Fox made many trips with his father Ken, exploring new fishing spots in Alaska and the northern Pacific coast and revisiting the sites of former triumphs. They caught crabs in Washington state and landed steelhead and salmon in Alaska.

In time, Fox and Elsa separated, and the children went their separate ways. Fox continued to maintain his close friendships with college colleagues, students (current and former) and a host of others whom he had touched. He entertained extensively at his home until poor health limited his activities.

William Fox, “Bill” to his legion of friends and acquaintances, is dearly missed by those who knew him. He was a gentleman, a scholar in many fields, a faithful friend and a fearless outdoorsman who could recite the poetry of Robert Service around a campfire one evening, then lecture in the classroom on the writings of Charles Darwin the following morning.

Fox is survived by his three children, Michael Fox (Suzanne) of Bozeman, Montana, Karen Childers (Rich) of Port Townsend, Washington, and Joel Fox (Jennifer) of Ojai, California.