Thursday, June 26, 1997
Longtime Abilene physician Irby Fox dies
By JOHN STARBUCK and JERRY DANIEL REED / Abilene Reporter-News
Longtime Abilene physician Dr. William Irby Fox died Wednesday
in a local hospital. He was 81.
Services are pending with Elliott-Hamil Funeral Home, 542 Hickory.
Fox began practicing medicine in Abilene in 1951 and built
his own office at 1227 N. Mockingbird in 1956, where he practiced
until his death.
He was born in Rochester and moved to Abilene at age 7. He
graduated from Abilene High School in 1932 and Hardin-Simmons
University in 1936 and earned a master's degree in physics from
Brown University in 1938. He also studied at the California Institute
of Technology and Scripps Institute of Oceanography.
After serving as a meteorological officer with the U.S. Navy
during World War II, he graduated from the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical School in 1950.
Fox, who made numerous house calls and delivered thousands
of babies, also had served as a physician to jail inmates since
1955.
"He was a lawman's friend," said Taylor County Sheriff
Jack Dieken. "We had a high regard for him and he had an
equally high regard for law enforcement."
During an interview for a Jan. 29, 1995, Abilene Reporter-News
story, Fox recalled one unique escape attempt from his office.
His suspicions became aroused after one woman had asked to
use the bathroom. When she left, he found a loaded handgun wrapped
in a plastic bag in the toilet tank. Tipping authorities, they
unloaded the weapon and waited for the inmate who was to retrieve
the gun during an office visit.
Fox was a former chief of staff at St. Ann Hospital, local
chairman of the American Party and a leader of the John Birch
Society.
Survivors include his wife, Nan Fox of Abilene; two sons, the
Rev. Leslie Fox of Belfast, N.Y., and U.S. Navy Cmdr. Mark Fox
of Annandale, Va.; three daughters, Suzanne Walker of Stamford,
Janan Beckerdite of Lake Jackson and Melinda Brown of Basel, Switzerland;
one sister, Wanda Young of Nacogdoches; one brother, Aubrey Fox
of Austin; and 10 grandchildren.
Memorials may be sent to Abilene Bible Church, 733 Butternut,
Abilene 79602.
---
Taylor County officials had planned against the day Dr. Irby
Fox would no longer attend jail inmates, but his sudden death
on Wednesday still came as a shock.
Fox had been the jail's physician since 1955. Because the 81-year-old
physician might one day retire, officials had worked on a plan
to find another medical provider. On Wednesday, the proposed plan
was on the desk of County Judge Lee Hamilton, who was on vacation.
Sheriff Jack Dieken said jailers will take inmates to Hendrick
Medical Center's outpatient clinic in the interim. Officials hope
to negotiate an agreement with a local medical provider to fill
the position on a continuing basis, he said.
It won't be easy to fill Fox's shoes, though, Dieken said.
Over the past 42 years, Fox would visit the jail day and night
to patch up inmates bloodied in a fistfight or in a DWI accident,
Dieken said. He also blocked off hours for daytime sick call for
inmates at his office. Hospital emergency rooms were used on the
infrequent occasions Fox wasn't available, the sheriff said.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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