Cyril James (Cy) Fox

July 26, 1931 to July 10, 2018

Obituary

Cyril was born in St. John’s Newfoundland and was the eldest son of Justice C.J. Fox, the First Chairman of the National Convention, and Mary Fox (nee Cashin). Born a proud Newfoundlander during a tumultuous time, Cy campaigned fervently for Responsible Government, and throughout his life identified always as a Newfoundlander. Cyril began his education at St Bonaventure’s College in St John’s . He was innately a scholar with a deep passion for literature and the arts.  Futile attempts to raise young Cyril’s nose from books and lower his head from his budding dreams earned him the moniker ‘Smell the Moon’ from his practical and ever pragmatic grandmother Lady Gertrude (Mullowney) Cashin. A last attempt to forcibly mold the scholar to a businessman by an ill fated trial on the Grand Banks resulted merely in alternating bouts of nausea and relentless yearning for the written word, onshore! Cyril excelled at academics and after beginning his post secondary education at Memorial University in 1948, completed his B.A. at St. F.X. He won the Rhodes Scholarship in 1952 and entered Merton College, Oxford, Law. After recuperating from contracting TB while in England, Cyril completed his Masters in Modern History at Columbia University, NYC. In 1961 he joined the Associated Press as a journalist in Newark, New Jersey. Two years later he transferred to the AP ‘s partner, Canadian Press with whom which he transferred back to London England in 1967. From his London base Cyril roamed Paris, Belfast, Brussels, Cyprus and Bucharest covering a range of foreign stories including the Parisian student riots, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the UN Population Conference. In 1974 he became Chief Sub Editor of the Reuters World Desk at Fleet Street which saw him seconded to Hong Kong and New Delhi covering political events. Cyril retired from Reuters in 1986 and returned to Canada in 1994 after his health began to suffer from “years of relishing English beer in Fleet St pubs “ and his soul’s perpetual yearning for the Newfoundland of his boyhood. The adventures of his professional life were fondly and entertainingly memorialized by the publishing of his memoirs in 2009’s “New World, Old World: Bridging the North Atlantic”. During his decades abroad Cy developed deep and lifelong friendships that he cherished and stoked upon his return to Canada, and ultimately Newfoundland . Cyril was an enthusiastic student and collector of art and literature and amassed one of the world’s largest collections of the works of Wyndham Lewis. He was widely recognized as an expert of Lewis’ paintings and writings and was requested to lecture often and afar on Lewis. Cyril was a Trustee of the Wyndham Lewis Society and offered his expertise to Kensington Library, Dover College, Reading University and enthusiastically returned to Memorial University to give the E.J. Pratt lecture where he pointed up convergences between Pratt’s poetry and Lewis . Typical of his quiet, generous soul, in 2006 he donated his vast collection to the University of Victoria where it remains on site as “The CJ FOX Collection”. Cy was predeceased by his parents, C.J. Fox, and Mary (nee Cashin), his eldest sister Marie Fox , his sisters and their respective spouses Joan LaFontaine ( Jean) , Nora Cahill (Gerard ) Sheila Ryan (Frank), his sister -in -law Madeline Fox, his infant brother Charles Fox, his infant nephew Jeffrey Fox, his nephew John Ryan and his infant great niece Kathleen Beer. He is survived by his non scholarly but athletic brother David Fox of St. John’s, numerous nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews. Cy was intuitively interested in who they were, and who they were becoming as Global Citizens. At Cyril’s request, Cremation has taken place. Visitation will be Sunday July 15th from 2-4 and 7-9 at  Carnell’s  Funeral Home, 329 Freshwater Rd, St. John’s. A funeral mass in celebration of Cyril’s life will be held at the Basilica of St John the Baptist on Monday July 16th at 9:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in his name may be made to The Learning Disabilities Association of Newfoundland and Labrador.

He never stopped hating fishing and fish.

Schedule

Visitations

2-4 p.m. on July 15, 2018

7-9 p.m. on July 15, 2018

Carnell’s Funeral Home
329 Freshwater Road
View on Map


funeral

9:30am, Monday July 16th

Basilica of St John the Baptist


Condolences

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I met Cy at the Second Cup in Toronto and for years he and I would talk about politics and the state of the world as we both saw it. He was witty and a real great guy. He joked he was going back to NL to his people and his grave, and I am, as are we all, poorer for losing him.

Thanks for all the craic, Cy. Godspeed.

As my sister Tracey said above, we always associated Mr Fox with the gifts he brought to the boat train in London before we headed to Southampton to sail to Canada. In addition to the stuffed kangaroo and koala bear, he gave us three box sets of books: The Narnia Tales, Doctor Doolittle and E. Nesbit favourites, including the Railway Children, Five Children and It, the Phoenix and the Magic Carpet. I often think that if we’d had no other books or toys growing up, our lives as children would have been complete with his gifts. In later years, he gave me Lear’s Book of Nonsense and a book of Rossetti poetry edited by C.H. Sisson. As others have mentioned, he lived life with gusto and told many dramatic stories about his adventures in journalism — almost with a sense of awe at himself. He spent a great deal of time at our flat in Bayswater and our home in Toronto. My father — his journalist colleague Carl Mollins — always wanted to include him in our family gatherings because he was without his own in Toronto. I enjoyed speaking with Mr Fox by telephone several times from Toronto after my father died in 2016 — he in St. John’s living in what he described as an isolated, windswept retirement residence. He mailed me the typewritten piece he wrote about my father and I typed it into a computer and sent it to the editor of The Baron for publication because Mr Fox never made the transition to digital communications. He always yearned to be living somewhere he wasn’t, and the last time we spoke, I offered to help him with a move to a retirement home in Toronto he was contemplating. The move never came to fruition. It’s been sad coming to terms with the fact that Mr Fox is no longer with us. My sincere condolences to his family and friends.

As my sister Tracey said above, we always associated Mr Fox with the gifts he brought to the boat train in London before we headed to Southampton to sail to Canada. In addition to the stuffed kangaroo and koala bear, he gave us three box sets of books: The Narnia Tales, Doctor Doolittle and E. Nesbit favourites, including the Railway Children, Five Children and It, the Phoenix and the Magic Carpet. I often think that if we’d had no other books or toys growing up, our lives as children would have been complete with his gifts. In later years, he gave me Lear’s Book of Nonsense and a book of Rossetti poetry edited by C.H. Sisson. As others have mentioned, he lived life with gusto and told many dramatic stories about his adventures in journalism — almost with a sense of awe at himself. He spent a great deal of time at our flat in Bayswater and our home in Toronto. My father — his journalist colleague Carl Mollins — always wanted to include him in our family gatherings because he was without his own in Toronto. I enjoyed speaking with Mr Fox by telephone several times from Toronto after my father died — he in St. John’s living in what he described as an isolated, windswept retirement residence. He mailed me the typewritten piece he wrote about my father and I typed it into a computer and sent it to the editor of The Baron for publication because Mr Fox never made the transition to digital communications. He always yearned to be living somewhere he wasn’t, and the last time we spoke, I offered to help him with a move to a retirement home in Toronto he was contemplating. The move never came to fruition. It’s been sad coming to terms with the fact that Mr Fox is no longer with us. My sincere condolences to his family and friends.

On behalf of the Bailey family (Tony, (Anthony) and Margot – lifelong friends) and their daughters, Liz, Annie, Katie and Rachel, and their husbands and children (who all knew Cy well and loved him), I am writing to say how sad we are to hear about Cy’s passing. Cy was Luz’s first babysitter in NY when she was just a few months old… Tony’s oldest friend from Oxford, and like a dear uncle or godfather to each Liz, Katie, Rachel and me. Stonington, CT., Greenwich, London, Vancouver, B.C., and Victoria, Vancouver Island, were all places that we knew him and loved him. Sending Cy’s family our deepest condolences. With love and respect, Annie Bailey

Memories of the past, 1947-1950; Memorial was a small college, not yet degree granting, an enrollment of less than 400, mostly students from out of town to study teaching. Let me see how many I can remember: Cy. of course, Nix Wadden, John O’reilly, Frazer Ellis, Mark Genge, Harry Brown, Gary Brownrigg, Dicky Dickenson, Cyril Morgan, Bill Oram, George Power, Alan Caul….others I am sure will come to me as soon as I sign off.
Pleasant memories and condolences from
L. Basil Walsh
basilwalsh@bellaliant.net

He was a ‘great man’ – he always referred to Wyndham Lewis as ‘the great man’ but for me it was Cy who was great. I always called him ‘Fox’ though. He visited us in Greenwich, as long time Oxford friend of my father, he brought us chocolate at Christmas, and his wonderful humour all year round. He brought us stories of Fleet Street and Mrs Moon’s and about his times in Northern Ireland and Nicosia, Northern Cyprus and there was the ‘Fox Factor’ when his pension or investments always seemed to take a dive in value. His Sydenham home’s value nosedived in a property crash. He laughed and joked about life, football, often chanting “Eagles” for the local football club, Crystal Palace, and seemed to know about everything. He gave up drinking with determination and saved his life. Our last lunch, on his last visit to London, was at Café Rouge, next to Charing Cross Station, where he laughed at my son’s lunch of chips and hot chocolate. We talked by phone after his move to Victoria and then when he was in Toronto and then St John’s, He missed his Lewis collection, and told me of his latest article that he’d handwritten and needed to be transferred digitally for publication…. he was a typewriter man, no computers for him…, a newspaper man of the best kind, now those days are gone. He was a lovely man, a great friend. He is and always will be missed.

I am very saddened by Cy’s passing. We had many long talks over coffee when we were both living in Toronto, and he never failed to cheer me up, despite – or perhaps because of – his detestation of the place. He is missed!
“The weight of this sad time we must obey;
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most: we that are young
Shall never see so much, nor live so long.”

Uncle Cy,
It was always our pleasure to see you when we had the opportunity. I dont think I ever walked away from a conversation with you without laughing and learning. I remember you every time I drive past the little used book store in Parry Sound.

Cheerio for now…….Bruce, Joelle, Ben Julia and Cam

Cy,
You will be remembered for your off-the-wall humor and your wealth of unusual information. A most entertaining companion you have been, be it as a guide on the battlefields of the Somme or walking Toronto streets heading to an Italian bistro.
Your generosity, kindness and thoughtfulness had you sending prints, books and different missives to our isolated peninsula.
We will miss your laughter but especially sharing the joke.
You remain in our hearts.
June, Marc and the children

A Scholar and a Gentleman.
May he Rest in Peace.
Michael and Annette (Atkinson) Boyle

Cy was an extraordinary raconteur. A brilliant and funny man whom we loved visiting us at the College. His College. He will be greatly missed. Condolences to David and his family and friends.

Tom McGrath, President
St. Bonaventure’s College.

It was my distinct pleasure to share the evening meal with Cy for the last three years as a fellow resident of Tiffany Village Retirement Community. His keen intellect made for many fascinating conversations on such varied topics as the National Convention, his experiences in London and his escapades with Reuters. RIP Cy.

We will miss our dear friend Cy.
Marie Elliott, Margarida Araujo and I ( Alex Ferreira) have had a close relationship with Cy ever since he moved into our building in Toronto at 40 Delisle Ave sometime near 2010 /2011.
He had an infectious laugh and smile. He was an intelligent individual who loved to be around people and enjoyed long talks and good food.
My wife Marie, my Mom Margarida and I have been sending him highly decorated large envelopes every couple of weeks since he left Toronto with newspapers, magazines and photos of Toronto and the people who knew him to remind him of us and the time he spent here.
Our deepest condolences to his family and friends.
We will miss you dearly Cy.
God bless.

The fantastic Mr. Fox! He will be fondly remembered and missed by many.

He worked with my Dad (Carl Mollins) in London and they remained good friends for many years. – this is what Cy wrote about Carl for the Baron: http://thebaron.info/comment/carl-mollins-some-notes. I know my Dad would have appreciated it greatly.

One of my earliest memories of Mr. Fox when he came to see us off when we moved to Canada as little kids – he had an armful of the very best books for us and and a stuffed kangaroo for me and a koala for my sister.

We always saw him on trips back to “old Blighty” and when he returned to Canada, we saw him often at my parent’s place. I loved listening to his stories and his interesting perspective on the world. He kept us laughing and thinking.

Lots of love to all the family.

Sincere Condolences to David and all extended family relations. I did not know Cyril. But I remember My Father speaking of him when he got the Rhodes Scholarship. And when Major Peter Cashin and often Michael would come to visit us in Brigus. Our Grand mother(Gertrude Williams-Bay Bulls) was related to the Cashin Family and to many other families from the Southern Shore including the “Fox” family. Being curious I was a good friend of Monica Mulcahey(Cape Broyle and St. johns) and have quite an amount of history of this side of the Family. Its amazing the strong scholarly thread that has being and continues up to and including today.
May your many memories of Cy bring consolation as you grieve and may he Rest in Peace after a long
and interesting life.

To our longtime family friends, David and all the Cahills, Beers, and Ryans, heartfelt condolences on the loss of Cy, whom I saw just a few days ago. May he rest in peace.

I enjoyed my time with Cy Fox and went out to Big Ben Pub at Churchill Square. We chatted each other and drank brandy or beer in 1990 before I left the province. Cy was great man and sense of humour I knew him Rest in peace, Cy Fox!

He never stopped hating fishing and fish.