JACK MORTON FOX / 1921-2005

He fought
for statehood

Jack Morton Fox was a Honolulu advertising agency employee when he took on the Hawaii statehood cause for a client. The cause grew into his personal passion in the late 1950s, and then-Gov. Samuel Wilder King appointed him to the Hawaii Statehood Commission.

Jack Morton Fox: He spent months trying to drum up support for isle statehood

"We moved to Alexandria, Va., for six months while he worked on it steadily in Washington, D.C., talking to senators and congressmen," recalled his wife, Marliss. He spent weeks in a public relations tour through Southern states where there was strong opposition to admitting Hawaii. He and island resident Nancy Corbett "gave lectures to luncheon groups and did a lot of radio work," she said. "He was really enthusiastic about statehood."

Fox, 83, died Jan. 28 in Rancho Murieta, Calif., where the couple has lived since 1989.

Fox worked for Castle & Cooke Hawaii and C. Brewer Co., beginning in the public relations departments and rising to executive positions in the sugar industry. He moved to England in 1970 to join the London subsidiary of the Czarnikow Rionda sugar trading firm, from which he retired in 1979 as managing director.

"He became a sugar broker, dealt in the international sugar market, made a fortune," said John McDermott, retired Honolulu public relations executive. "He was a brilliant guy in his own way. He was a fun guy, good on the stage. Jack had a flair for musical comedy. He could recite any song you could name."

Fox was active in local theater, appearing in several Oahu productions in the 1960s. When the Foxes returned to live on the Big Island in 1979, he performed in Waimea theater productions produced by the late Richard Smart. He wrote scripts and performed in the Honolulu Press Club Gridiron Show.

"Jack was a great comedian. He had fantastic timing," said Lorraine Dove, who has acted and danced in Hawaii stage productions for many years. Dove remembered that she and Fox performed in "South Pacific" in a 1956 news-making tour of Pacific military installations. "The admiral saw the show here and was impressed, so he arranged for the whole company to tour. We went to Guam, Kwajalein, Clark Air Force base in Manila; for two weeks we went all over the Pacific," said Dove. "It was a historical event. Nothing like that had ever been launched from here before." It was covered by mainland media and "was enormously successful."

Fox was born in New York City. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He and his wife met and married in Hawaii more than 57 years ago.

He is survived by wife Marliss, daughters Jamie and Tamsen Fox and Taylor Fox Thompson, and six grandchildren.

His ashes were scattered Feb. 10 off the coast of Marin County, Calif.