Mack Cox, age 65, of Colome, passed away on Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at the Winner Regional Healthcare Facility. Memorial Service was held at 9 a.m. Monday, March 14, 2016 at Mason Funeral Home in Winner. Burial will be held at a later date.
A rosary was held held at 7:00 PM Sunday, March 13, 2016 at St. Isidore Catholic Church in Colome.
Mack was born March 16, 1950 in Richmond, VA to George W. and Myrtle (Stiltner) Cox, Mack was one of the first in his family to be born in a hospital. He attended Powhatan Schools and was an amateur boxer through his teens.
After graduation, Mack enlisted in the US Air Force and proudly served his country overseas completing tours in Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Upon his return, he served in Arizona, Denver and finally, Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. During his station, he met his wife of forty-three years, Tonna Pechota. They married February 3, 1973 at St. Benedict’s in Richmond, VA and, in 1978, moved back to South Dakota to start their family.
Mack was a self-starter and took enormous pride in his work. He owned Cox Drywall and worked as a subcontractor on huge projects all over the Midwest, away from his family for months at a time. He endured a long battle with Ankylosing Spondylitis, a degenerative disease that finally forced him to retire in 1995.
An avid sports fan, Mack coached all four of his daughters in AAU and YMCA basketball and presided over the Colome Athletic Boosters in the late 80s. He also played slow-pitch softball while on location during many summers on the reservation. A voracious reader, Mack loved arguing politics, sports and history with his friends and, later, his daughters and various strangers on the internet. He was a brilliant bridge player and was rarely contested in Jeopardy! or Trivial Pursuit.
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