December 9, 2014
Father Francis Cox
Father Cox was born on Sept. 17, 1925, in the village of Roscommon, Tarmanbarry County, Ireland. He studied at and was ordained at Saint Patrick Seminary in Carlow. Father Cox first served as an assistant at St. John Parish in El Dorado and was assigned the next year to Saint Patrick Parish in Chanute. In 1956, he was named pastor of our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Newton. Seven years later, in 1963, he was named pastor of our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Hutchinson, where he served for 10 years. During that decade Fr. Cox was named vicar forane and appointed to the Priests' Retirement & Relief Board. In 1973, he was named pastor of St. Mary Parish in Parsons. Father Cox was named pastor of Holy Name, Winfield, and St. Mary, Oxford in 1983. Four years later he was assigned as pastor of Sacred Heart in Arkansas City. He retired on July 13, 1998.