Capt. George Raymond Fox, USN (ret.), 90, of Pensacola, FL, died peacefully on Thursday, November 16, 2023.

Ray was born on September 29, 1933, the second child of Dr. and Mrs. George R. Fox, in Providence, RI. His sister, Pat, and he were avid skiers and sailing partners who participated in the New England Beetle Cat Championship.

He received a B.A. in Philosophy from Brown University, where he helped found and captain the ski team, and was encouraged to enlist in the US Navy as a pilot. In the meantime, he enrolled in Graduate School and taught math at East Providence Central Junior High. Once accepted into the US Naval Flight School, he moved to Pensacola, FL in 1957.

After flight school, Ray was transferred to Miramar, CA to fly jets, get his carrier certification and join his first squadron aboard the USS Lexington in the South Pacific in 1960.

After a stint as a flight instructor in Beeville, TX, Ray became an aide to RAdm. Brandley in Corpus Christi. It was his duty to carry orders from the admiral to the superintendent of Corpus Christi Public Schools that they must admit children of black servicemembers. It was here that Ray met his first wife, Sandra Lee Buch. They were married in 1965, and transferred to Jacksonville, FL, where he was assigned to the USS Saratoga in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1966 near Malta, during a carrier landing mishap, he ejected from his A-4C when its tail hook didn't properly engage the ship's arresting wire. In 1967, Ray was deployed to Vietnam aboard the USS Intrepid while Sandy stayed in Jacksonville, FL and gave birth to their first child, George.

In years of flying with several attack squadrons in Vietnam, Ray was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses. Afterwards, he was promoted to the rank of Commander and transitioned stateside to become a test pilot and maintenance officer.

Ray and his family were transferred to Norfolk, VA in 1969 with assignments in Egypt and Israel. His second child, Richard, was born in 1970 and he was transferred back to Miramar, CA as a Sr. Squadron Maintenance Officer. Around this time, Sandy was diagnosed with Leukemia. During his tour of duty in CA, Ray continued to take graduate courses and in 1974 earned his MBA - Systems Management from University of Southern California.

In 1975, Ray was assigned to the USS Ranger as Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Division Officer and when the ship was transferred to Bremerton, WA in 1977, moved his family there, but Sandy soon grew ill and died from Leukemia.

Now a single father of two boys, Ray was transferred to the Pentagon and moved his family to Annandale, VA. He had assignments in Patuxent River, MD, Norfolk, VA, and a return to San Diego where Ray earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership and Human Behavior, from United States International University.

Ray was promoted to the rank of Captain and then named Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Rework Facility in Pensacola, FL for two years beginning in 1980. While playing tennis in Pensacola, he met Frances Harper Browder who would soon become his second wife. At the end of that assignment, after he transferred back to the Pentagon in 1993, he married Frances, welcoming her son, Link and daughter, Polly, into the enlarged family.

Ray retired from the Navy in 1986 as a Captain, after a distinguished career of over 30 years. He began a second profession in the private sector with several consulting firms supporting the Federal Aviation Administration. He officially retired in 2011, achieving the role of Chief Operating Officer at Subsystem Technologies, Inc.

Frances and he purchased a condominium in Pensacola as a winter home near friends, but within seven years, the couple sold their home in Annandale to live in Pensacola all year.

Ray volunteered at both the US Naval Air Museum and the T.T. Wentworth Museum and became a member of the Rotary Club. In his spare time, he researched, wrote, and published a historical nonfiction book titled "China, Morocco and Japan: World War II with the Rabys," based on a family photo album he discovered at a garage sale.

Ray Fox loved flying, tennis, skiing, golf, model ships, reading and learning. He hoped to become as good a golfer as he was a tennis player, skier, sailor, or pilot. He was respected by colleagues and admired for his charm and sense of humor. Most of all, he was a great friend, father, and husband.

Ray is preceded in death by his wife, Frances Harper Fox (d. 2023); his first wife, Sandra Lee Fox (d. 1977); as well as a sister, Dorothy Patricia Allen (d. 2023).

Ray is survived by his children, George R. Fox, Jr. (Alicia Roman) of Alexandria, VA, Kervin Link Browder (Mary Rose Browder) of Houston, TX, Richard M. Fox (Mindy Richlen) of East Falmouth, MA, and Polly Elizabeth Browder of Pensacola, FL; four grandchildren, G. Cole Fox, Simon Fox, Henry Browder, and Durham Browder; as well as his nephew, Alexander Moore.

Graveside Service will be held 11:30am Tuesday, November 21, 2023, at Bayview Memorial Park, with Rev. Kathryn Gillett officiating and full military honors. A reception will immediately follow at the Pensacola Country Club.

Donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/donate