People on our Streets

A Tony Cox Profile Historian, Gardener and More ...

Tony and Valerie Cox came to Lions Bay over 40 years ago, and hence qualify as 'long term residents'. Tony was born in Devon, a large county in remarkably balmy southwestern England because of the warm Gulf Stream ocean current.  It has a rich Celtic and Roman past, and is next door to Cornwall where the "land comes to an end". Tony's parents had lived in Cornwall, where many family members still live - I think Tony considers himself more Cornish than Devonian.

Devon boasts two UNESCO Sites - the Jurassic Coast Heritage Site and the Braunton Burrows Biosphere Reserve, as well as magnificent natural open moorland and rugged coastal scenery, favoured by hikers, naturalists and pony trekkers.  It is also famous for its regional  and civilized repast of Devonshire (sometimes called Cornish) Cream Teas of scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam, and the consumption of a potent 'zider' known as "scrumpy".

As a history buff, Tony served on the Board of the BC Historical Federation for ten years, marked a short time ago by an Award of Appreciation. The Federation is an umbrella organization for over 200 Historical Societies in BC, including the Lions Bay Historical Society. For the historian, the dark past of earlier years is not lost on Tony. In the days of sailing ships, merchant vessels were lured at night by decoy coastal bonfires onto Cornwall's rocky shores, to be plundered by locals. The World Wars too left residues of past memories. Tony's father managed to live through but was no doubt scarred by the horrors of World War I. One cousin, not much older than Tony, lost his life when the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes was sunk during the Japan part of World War II. Another young cousin served in the Royal Navy on HMS Caprice (a powerful 'greyhound of the sea'), surviving years of concentrated air and submarine attacks and fierce storms in the frigid Arctic Ocean during the famous 'Murmansk runs". Tony vividly recalls the bombing devastation of Exeter while still only a boy.

Locally, you will find Tony on January 1st at the annual "Dip & Dash" (how long does he stay in?) on July 1st at the Historical Society Table, at the Native Plant Garden with pick, pruner and spade, and at various community work-parties and committees throughout the year. In his long career with Baxter Laboratories he has seen many advances in medical technology. Here is his story:

"I was born in Exeter England on June 1st 1933.Tracing my family tree however indicates our Celtic Cornish roots go back 500 years in various parts of Cornwall.

Exeter is a small Cathedral City founded by the Romans and located in the beautiful Devon countryside. The cathedral is 800 years old and was built at the same time as Chartres in France with flying buttresses on the outside of the building. We lived just outside Exeter in a little place the Romans called Colatina.

"When I was 9 years old I was accepted as a Chorister in the Cathedral Choir School and sang constantly at practices and services. We were living in a very old building next to the cathedral and after what seemed an eternity we were given a few days holiday and went home for a weekend. This must be considered fortuitous because during these few days on the night of May 3-4 1942, German bombers attacked the city and two thousand houses were demolished, 250 people killed and a large number injured. Our Chorister building was demolished by a direct hit; such is the luck of life. Cologne Cathedral in Germany and Exeter Cathedral had one thing in common and that is they reigned supreme as islands in a desolation of rubble. We relocated in a country house in Honiton and went by train 4 days a week into the still smoldering city for services. I had  gathered quite a collection of shrapnel by this time."My parents then sent me to Taunton School in Somerset where I stayed for 8 years.

Wartime Britain was not much fun compared with today. All the lovely beaches were covered in barbed wire, probably with mines in the sand the other side of the wire. Food at school was not great and the two meals that stick in my mind are fried bread saturated in bacon fat for breakfast, with one egg on Saturday and rabbit pie stew for dinner. William the Conqueror brought rabbits to England to feed his troops.  Well, they have fed many people since then and certainly us in 1943-1945.

"Fun was being in the OTC and going to the army camp at Warminster in the summer holidays. Cricket and Rugby were prominent English sports. If you were not on a team you cross country ran.

"So much for the war, but one story I always remember is about a wonderful toy German car my Aunt had brought back from Germany in 1938. This miniature Mercedes had 4 forward gears and a reverse and was beautifully engineered but had a wind up spring.

In 1944 in my holidays, the spring broke. Looking across the fields I saw some German POW’s filling in the rabbit holes and thought they would know how to fix it. There were about 12 of them and one guard. I chose to ask one of them and showed him the car. He held up two fingers meaning 2 days. I did not feel uncomfortable with them at all. Two days later I found him in another field and he removed the repaired car from his pocket. When I told my mother she said he must come for tea and this she arranged through the camp Commander. On his second visit for tea he presented my mother for her kindness with a beautiful jewelry box he made in camp which I now have and enjoy showing people.

"When I left school in 1951 I like many other boys wanted some excitement. One class friend joined the Rhodesian Police, another went to Tasmania, another to Hong Kong. My father had a friend in Montreal and he was good enough to sponsor me. I got a job on the 19 floor of Sun Life Building in what was then Dominion Square. I started as a courier to this company and had to find my way around Montreal which did me a lot of good. I roomed and boarded on Chomedy Street behind the old Forum and in those days you could attend hockey games dirt cheap. I watched Rocket Richard and his brother the Pocket play regularly and also watched several fist fights surrounding the game results from my window. Fighting to me in those days seemed like rather bad form.

"I joined the Westmount Rugby Club and played the army in Ottawa as well as Ashbury College. We had weekends at Harvard and MIT in Boston. We were billeted with various freshmen and I billeted with quite a pleasant guy who later turned out to be Ted Kennedy. Because of a night out before we played MIT next morning we were beaten 63 to Zero. You live and learn.

"After doing different jobs I was sent out for a tour of the Prairies and lived in Medicine Hat, Edmonton and Winnipeg for some time but I wanted something different. I applied for a job out of Chicago with Baxter Laboratories and this resulted one Monday morning finding myself in Chicago rush hour after an overnight flight from Calgary. After 3 days of interviews including an Industrial Psychological session with a Dr Doty 30 stories high in downtown Chicago, I went home. Two months later I spent several weeks in Chicago where they attempted to train me and I remained with them for 32 years.

"Baxter had produced the first commercial IV solution bottle in the world and also handled the first artificial kidney machine called the Kolff Twin Coil Machine. Dr Kolff was the Dutch inventor and Baxter was handling the unit. When I went to live in Saskatoon, Dr Mark Balzan wanted to start the renal centre at St Paul’s Hospital and I was able to obtain all the help he required through Chicago. Today St Paul’s is a major centre for renal dialysis in Canada.

"In 1964 I was moved to Vancouver and travelled around Western Canada quite a lot. In 1967 we released the first blood bag (PVC) and the agreement with the Red Cross was that every clinic or Red Cross station that collected blood had to be called upon. That gave me the opportunity to visit Inuvik and I crossed the arctic circle for the first time in 1967.

"Valerie and I were married in St Francis in the Wood in 1967 and we purchased our lot in Lions Bay in 1968, moving into our house in January 1969. David and Mark were born in Lions Gate Hospital. Lions Bay was a very different place in those days and parents then were definitely chauffeurs to their children. Lions Bay was in the West Van. Soccer league which involved games every weekend and practices during the week. David was in the West Van. Band. Phones were all party lines and frequently not working. However, the spirit in those days was terrific and everybody pulled together which is the basis of Lions Bay today, in spite of the wonderful road system and bus service, which can cause more independence among people.

"Life seems to go by rather rapidly. We have visited many parts of the world over the years, holidaying and with business. Since I retired 20 years ago I have been involved in many organizations both in Lions Bay and the Province - I find volunteering a most satisfying way of passing the years and contributing to our way of life".
T. Cox, June 2011.

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