Edward Warren Cox

1946 - 2022

Edward Warren Cox (KE3D) passed away on February 21, 2022 in Austin, TX at the age of 75. Ed was dearly loved by his wife Joan Cox (KD4SRD) of 25 years, and their children son Arty and Jennifer Freeman of Winter Park, FL, and daughter Christy and Chris and granddaughter Izzy Beardsley of Austin, TX, and cousin Jeff and Sue Cox of Murrysville, PA and their children Hannah and Justin Pavis and David Cox.He is preceded in death by his mother Margaret Geyer Cox, father Harry Bracken Cox, and his younger brother Hilory Bracken Cox.

Ed was born in Harrisburg, PA and as a teen and young adult, loved spending time tinkering with things, helping others, and spent summers working at television and radio stations. As he got older, he attended Lehigh University and earned a master's in electronic engineering. All of this sparked his life-long passion for communications.

After college he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps where he was instrumental in establishing communications during the Vietnam War in which he was unfortunately shot and later recognized with a Purple Heart. He had secret/crypto access and help install communications equipment around the world. He then went from protecting and serving his country to protecting and serving his community.

Throughout his career, he worked in the semiconductor industry designing ICs for telephony for some of the world's largest employers. He was active in amateur radio public service for 59 years. As evidenced by his expertise, volunteerism and hard work, Ed was invested in providing emergency and disaster relief communications for his local community and those around the world. This included converting an ambulance into a mobile command center, responding to hurricanes, and helping public service staff and private citizens communicate in difficult situations.

Ed had a passion for communications. He received a first class FCC phone license in 1963 and a second class radio telegraph license. As a ham radio operator, Ed was originally licensed as KN3SWJ in 1962 and was a technically oriented experimenter until 1978 when the HF bug bit. He upgraded from general thru advanced to extra class. DX was one of his passions and he operated from numerous DX locations. He also operated CW, Digital and phone of the HF, and operated a 70cm repeater. His call signs have included WB4OWN (repeater), K4HPQ, W0RAO, K3SWJ and finally KE3D. Ed was also licensed in the UK as G5EC and had CEPT permits to operate in Germany, Netherlands, and Belgium. He operated throughout the world including Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. In many Caribbean locations he operated such as VP2MSG, ZF2HE, Haiti, BVI, USVI, Jamaica and more. One of Ed's greatest DX expeditions was to Clipperton Island – a 3-mile coral atoll in the middle of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. He volunteered with several schools and helped make contact with a number of NASA Space Shuttles. Ed enjoyed geography having real QSOs with DX stations (not just Hello 599 goodbye). With a 5 band DXCC, he worked over 322 confirmed countries. He was also a DXCC card checker. He is a life member of ARRL, RACES, ARES and the Austin Amateur Radio Club (AARC).

In addition to his love for ham radio, Ed was a scuba diver, won awards for target shooting, built and flew model airplanes, enjoyed wine, and was always engineering a new design. As an enthusiastic traveler and lover of geography, one of his favorite trips was to see the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (drum and bugle corps) Festival in Scotland.

However, if you asked Ed, his greatest accomplishment wasn't ham radio or his career. It was being a husband and a father. Ed met his wife Joan first as Florida neighbors in the 80s but came to know her through the Lake Monroe amateur radio society in the 90s. In fact, he helped Joan's class make contact with the Space Shuttle Columbia and then they married in 1996.

Ed was a brilliant man, a wonderful husband, teacher, community leader, and devoted dad. He was always accepting of others and protected his family fiercely. He was dedicated to public service.

A memorial service will be held on March 4, 2022 at 1:00 pm Oak Hill United Methodist Church 7815 Highway 290 West, Austin TX 78746. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the church or the Austin Amateur Radio Club to a special Ed Cox, KE3D SK Memorial Fund where donations will be used to fund radio equipment for schools.

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