Eileen Weence F. Fox

Eileen Fitch Fox "Weence", 93, passed away in the early hours of June 4th, 2015 at Silverado Memory Care in Tustin, California. Born February 27, 1922 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Cecil Aloysius and Colette Cunningham Fitch. Eileen grew up in Eureka, Utah, a small mining town 90 miles southwest of Salt Lake City where her family formed the Chief Consolidated Company in 1909. Eileen attended high school as a boarding student at the Sacred Heart School in Atherton, California. After high school, she attended the San Francisco College for Women for one year until she joined the Society of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ) as a Religious in 1941. There, Eileen became dedicated to providing educational opportunities for young girls. In 1946, she fulfilled her vocation and left the convent. She would then return to Eureka, Utah, her place of birth. Eileen was admitted to Stanford University to complete her education during the fall semester of 1949. Steven K. Fox Jr., a geology and micropaleontology professor at Princeton University was conducting a field excursion in Eureka during the summer of 1949. The rest was history. Eileen and Steve married on April 1st, 1950, relocated to Princeton, New Jersey, and raised their two children, Tad and Kathy. In 1951, Eileen moved to Ankara, Turkey to be with her husband during the Korean War. While living in Turkey, she taught English and gave birth to her second child, Kathy. In 1976, Eileen lost her son Tad to muscular dystrophy at the age of 25. She later applied to Rutgers University to pursue a degree in special education. Eileen graduated in 1981 with honors and went on to teach at the Eden Institute, a school for people with autism. She embraced her time with her students and made a difference in each of their lives. After the death of her husband Steve in 1987, Eileen moved to Irvine, California to lend her assistance to her daughter in raising her two grandchildren, Patrick and Kristin Feeny.

Eileen Fox loved life and deeply cared for people. She was very active in the community, and was a dedicated Eucharist minister for St. John Neumann Catholic Church. She was passionate about animals and had a reputation for caring for strays. Eileen was an avid runner well into her 70’s. She was notorious for her hospitality, and everyone was always welcome in her home.

Eileen is survived by her daughter Katherine Fox Feeny and her two grandchildren Patrick Kimball Feeny III and Kristin Eileen Feeny. She was preceded in death by her husband Steven K. Fox Jr., Her son Steven K. Fox III (Tad), her sisters Noel Kemmer, Joan Combs, Anne Quigley, Adelaide “Wit” Spencer, her brother Cecil Fitch Jr., her dogs Jigger, Kirpy, Saber, Kaiser, Regis, Cuddy, Rocky, Kachu, monkeys Tinkerbelle and Mango, bird Pedro, and cat Ely.

A viewing and memorial will be held at the Pacific View Chapel in Corona del Mar on June 14th from 2-5PM. A funeral mass will be held at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Irvine on June 15th at 3PM. Immediately following there will be a celebration of Eileen’s life at the Balboa Bay Club at 5PM. Burial will be at the Fitch family cemetery in Eureka, Utah on July 18th at 1PM. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Muscular Dystrophy Association in honor of her son Tad at www.mda.org/donate.