Gardner (Gary) Lawrence Cox of Pleasant View, Tennessee, passed away Friday, February 7th, 2025 at Skyline Medical Center in Nashville surrounded by his family.
He was born on February 3, 1948 in Buffalo, New York, son of Dr. Gardner Cox II and Helen Louse (Westbrook) Cox. After living in Maine and California while his father was on active duty, he grew up in Holyoke, Mass., attending public schools before graduating from Cardigan Mountain School and Charlemont High School.
He married Mary Ellen Moriarity of Holyoke in 1970.
Interested in all things mechanical, he graduated from Franklin Institute in Boston with an Associates’ degree in diesel engineering in 1970. He spent many years as a diesel design engineer for American Bosch, United Technologies, and a successor company, AMBAC Inc. in western Massachusetts, helping design diesel injection pumps for Mack, International Harvester, Caterpillar and Renault. Pumps he helped design for marine engines for Caterpillar have accumulated more than a million hours in operation without failures.
He later taught diesel mechanics at Lincoln Technical Institute in Connecticut, and after he and Ellen moved to Tennessee in 2007 to be closer to their granddaughters, at Nashville Auto Diesel College, where he won an award for teaching. He also designed and built custom diesel pumps for competitive truck pullers.
In 1975, he and Ellen built a log house on family land in Hawley, Mass in the Berkshires where they and their daughters lived for ten years until they moved to Agawam, Mass.
Gary always enjoyed working on cars, trucks, tractors and farm equipment his entire life. He was also very handy and enjoyed building. He built a family home, barn and garage in Hawley and a garage in Holyoke for his father. Gary was a loving family man with many friends and family in both Massachusetts and Tennessee. Gary will be greatly missed by all his friends and family.
He is preceded in death by his parents and his daughter Katherine Louise (Cox) Tangredi.
He is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Mary Ellen Cox (Moriarty), his brother Gregory Allen Cox of Hawley and sister Helen Louise Donahoe (Cox) of Holyoke, his daughter Mary Ellen Kosinski (Cox), son in-law Joseph F Kosinski II, and 3 granddaughters, Macy Elizabeth Kosinski, Mallory Erin Kosinski and Marla Emma Kosinski, all of Pleasant View.
Visitation is planned for Saturday, February 22, 2025 from 2-4 pm with a short memorial at 4 pm at Austin & Bell Funeral Home in Pleasant View. Flowers can be sent to Austin and Bell Funeral Home or donations can be made in Gary’s name to Colby’s Army at http://www.colbysarmy.org/giving.html
The service will be livestreamed at www.youtube@austinbellofpleasantview3266
AUSTIN & BELL FUNERAL HOME in Pleasant View is in charge of these arrangements. 6316 Highway 41A, Pleasant View, Tennessee 37146 (615) 746-4433 www.austinandbell.com
This obituary was published by Austin & Bell Funeral Home.
This obituary was published by Obituaries provided free for the community.
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