Wendell Hayes Cox ’52

Wendell Hayes Cox ’52, youngest son of Dartmouth professor Sidney Cox and Alice Ray Cox, died on November 16, 2009, of cancer in Alexandria, Virginia. He grew up in Hanover, attended Hanover High School and graduated from Dartmouth in 1952 with a history-international relations major. He then followed his brother Arthur Macy Cox into the Central Intelligence Agency and trained in counterespionage. Wendell was committed to “making the world safe for democracy” and, while stationed in Munich, Germany, he participated in “cleaning up after the war.” In the 1973 cutbacks he left the agency and went to George Washington University for a master’s in general systems, but then chose to work in real estate. His greatest contributions, however, have been to his family and to his community. For almost 60 years Wendell was husband and best friend to Solveig, and first resource for her Cat Pottery business in Alexandria, Virginia, working variously as financial manager, shipping clerk, salesperson and on anything that needed maintenance or repair. In his community Wendell was deeply committed to mobilizing the Democratic vote, both through financial contributions and door-to-door efforts; Barack Obama’s run for president was a crowning success. And finally later in life Wendell’s participation in the games of golf, bridge and tennis earned him a reputation as a real character, a force to be reckoned with; opponents and teammates alike marveled at his vitality and wit, his enthusiasm and intensity. He is survived by Solveig and children David and Jennifer.