Kendall “Kenny” Gordon Cox was born to Tyndall Carnie Cox and Margaret Jane Cox in Leon, Iowa on November 11, 1950. He grew up alongside four sisters, Hollie, Connie, Becky, and Rachel, in a family that moved frequently between Montana and Iowa, to and from different houses. As a result of various rapidly changing circumstances, Kendall and Connie were left in the care of his aunt and uncle, Carrol and Darlene Woodard. Therefore, it is important to mention that throughout his whole life, there was only one house that Kenny really thought of as home, and as of this writing the couple who served as second parents to him still live there, a few miles away from Leon, surrounded by his cousins and a very rich farming culture that carried forth through every aspect of Kendall’s life.
Graduating high school in 1969, Kendall was drafted into the United States Army where he served two tours in Vietnam, earning the Army Commendation Medal as a clerk typist. From there he attended Northwest Bible College and Lee University, seeking to become a history teacher and eventually settling into a job as a warehouseman in Great Falls, Montana, when his GI Bill funding ran out.
Kendall was a devout Christian and very active in his home church, Sunnyside Church of God, from his childhood up until his passing. His faith enabled him to perform the most difficult duties imaginable with grace and honor, and eventually to meet his wife of 36 years, Maxima Cox (then Maxima Saavedra Lopez). The couple married late in life and were surprised and thankful to God when they discovered that against all medical predictions, they were able to have a son, who they named Nathaniel. While raising a first and only child late in life certainly presented a steep learning curve to both parents, they soldiered through and neither of them ever gave up or stopped caring.
Kenny was preceded in death by Tyndall C. Cox, Margaret J. Cox, Connie Kingsford, and Hollie Miracle. He is survived by Maxima Cox, Nathaniel Cox, Darlene Woodard, and Carol Woodard.
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