Merced County leader, educator honored with highway dedication ceremony in Los Banos
Many members of the Los Banos community came together Saturday to honor late community leader, veteran and educator Joe Cox by naming a section of Highway 152 in his honor.
The Joe Cox Memorial Highway outdoor public sign dedication ceremony was held in the front of the Merced College Los Banos Campus.
There were family members and friends present, many of whom shared stories about Cox. “It’s definitely a great feeling to see him honored and recognized in this way,” said Cox’s son Joel Cox.
Saturday’s event comes as a result of successful campaign by Los Banos Rotary to erect signs reading “Joe Cox Memorial Highway” on the section of Highway 152 that passes through Los Banos.
Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, wrote the bill that made the honor for Cox possible.
Cox, who died in 2018, was a World War II veteran, high school agriculture teacher, a high school and junior high principal and then a board member of the Los Banos Unified District, according to a column written by Toni Huarte, president of the Los Banos Rotary Club.
“One of things said today was no matter whatever he did, (Cox) always took the lead,” said longtime friend John Spevak. “He was a born leader. When he was an ag teacher he became the department chair. He was in education and he became a principal. When he retired he became a board member.”
Joel said being a leader came easy to his father.
“In every organization he was involved with he became a treasurer, a secretary or president,” Joel said. “He would just go for these roles. He would work his way up. He had no problem because he enjoyed those types of things. Some people don’t like being in charge because they don’t want the responsibility. That came easy for him.”
“He really believed in doing stuff for kids because they’re the future, especially in education,” Joel added.
A lifetime of service
Cox served as principal of Los Banos High for 13 years and Los Banos Junior High for six years, plus served 12 years on the school board. When he was Los Banos High principal he helped Merced College start a branch campus in Los Banos in 1971, according to Huarte’s column.
Before arriving in Los Banos, Cox served in World War II on the U.S.S. Orion and U.S.S Batfish submarines and later served in the Navy in the Korean War. He devoted much of his life thereafter to supporting the Los Banos Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Los Banos American Legion.
As an ag teacher he served as agriculture department chair at Los Banos High. In 1963 Cox led four students to a first place finish in the National Dairy Cattle Judging Championship in Waterloo, Iowa.
“As far as I’m concerned he was like a second father for me,” said Anthony Silva, who was part of that winning team. “He was an amazing individual, a great mentor and not only as a teacher but an FFA advisor.”
“The amount of respect I had for him wasn’t out of fear, but respect,” Silva continued. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t have done for him. He was a serious, no nonsense type of guy. He was always on task. He set a great example for us.”
In 1993 Joe was nominated by the Merced County Area Agency for the Aging to represent Los Banos in the California Senior Legislature and was appointed to the Senior Assembly.
After he retired, Joe devoted many years to honoring his fellow submarine crew members who died in World War II by planting trees at San Joaquin National Cemetery in Santa Nella and the Los Banos college campus.
Cox was a longtime active member of the Los Banos Rotary Club, joining in 1966. In 1990 he served as the Rotary District Governor.
“He was active in everything,” Spevak said. “The amount of things he was involved with was amazing from school to Rotary, to Knights of Columbus, to becoming a board member. He really was involved in the community.”
