William Michael Fox

William “Bill” Fox, a pioneer in the card game ‘Bridge’ who parlayed his skillset and passion into global travel, passed away in the early mornings of Sunday November 10th at Swedish Hospital here in Denver. His son Michael was by his side. Bill was 91 years old. Bill was born October 11, 1933 in the Bronx, New York. Even though he only spent the first 20 years of his life in New York, if you ever came in contact with our father, you knew the New Yorker never left him, inside and out. He was born to parents Pauline and Sam Fox. Bill was an only child and was the ultimate “Latch Key” kid. Growing up in the Bronx, the original Yankee stadium was a short subway ride away and though he was NOT a Yankee fan, he was the ultimate baseball purist and fan. He would often ditch school and sneak into Yankee Stadium as a child with his buddies just to take in a day game to see some of the greats of the game. He loved baseball and played it as often as he could and became quite prolific as a ‘catcher’. Bill was drafted into the Major Leagues in the early 50’S and played one summer of baseball for the Tigers. And although he was NOT a Yankees fan, one of his childhood idles was the Hall of Fame Catcher, Yogi Berra who was known for his baseball skills but also for his unique and often quite baffling one-liners…which is why we will quote him now as it is quite the appropriate moment:

“Always go to other peoples funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.”

Upon graduation from high school and after his brief baseball career, Bill attended Ohio University in Athens Ohio where he eventually met his wife, and our Mother, Amy who was also originally from New York, but from the borough of Queens. After they graduated college and fell in love, they traveled back to New York and were married in February of 1957. Known for their creativity and playfulness, they got themselves a dog and named it ‘Dog’ and then jumped in a car and drove cross-country to Southern California where Bill had accepted a job out West. Bill entered the Coast Guard and was shipped up to Treasure Island, California in the Northern California area. Because of his background in stats and math and the fact he had been a lifeguard at Jones Beach, New York, the Coast Guard had him teach math to the young “Sea Recruits” and then had him lifeguard and teach the young men and women how to swim and to ensure that they all passed their basic swimming tests. If they struggled and went under, he’d jump in and save them. Though he spent roughly 6 months there, he was allowed to leave the Coast Guard and went back to our Mother in Southern California. It was in 1973 that Bill departed L.A. for Denver where has remained until his death. During the past 51 years, Bill opened a Bridge Studio in Denver called ‘Bill Fox’s House of Bridge’ and was at the forefront of the Bridge and Backgammon craze in the 1970’s and 1980’s. He would teach lessons, run duplicate bridge games, and played in various tournaments around the country. And then he met the true love of his life, a “Ying to his Yang”, Joan Madrid. Joan was a life master bridge player as well and the two of them lived happily together, traveling the world, partners in crime. After 10 years he sold the bridge club and he and Joan began working on cruise ships teaching bridge and running bridge games. They did that for the next 33 years until Joan passed in 2015. Bill was in awe of travel and so very grateful to have had the opportunity to travel to over 200 countries and with some of the bridge folks in the local Denver. We always said, our father probably forgot more bridge than most people will ever know and he could confidently recall nearly every bridge hand he held and how each ultimately played out. Bill is survived by his 3 kids (Marcy, her husband Tom, Michael and Jay), 3 grandchildren (Christopher, Nicholas and Eliannah) and Joan’s son (Steve, his wife Nancy and his daughter Rachel – or Poo as he always called her since birth). A celebration of life for our father will be held in a few weeks sometime in December in the local Denver area.