News Briefs
Senior DeMolay Receives RD Award 52 Years Later
ATLANTA, GA - "It's never too late," took on a special meaning when Senior DeMolay L. O.
Cox of Georgia pulled his RD application out of a drawer 51 years after
completing it and finally decided he had lived up to the DeMolay
standard and was worthy of representing DeMolay.
Dad Cox joined DeMolay in 1949 and completed his Representative DeMolay
application in 1952 while he was still a junior in high school. In those
days the form was 28 pages long. Georgia Executive Officer Marc Bohn
presented him with his RD award on February 8, 2004 at the annual Tournament
of Champions held in Atlanta, Georgia, an annual ritual competition
tournament that Dad Cox helped establish. Dad Cox has been very active in
DeMolay for five decades and is highly regarded. He is a Chevalier and has
received both the Cross of Honor and Legion of Honor Awards.
"I looked it over and didn't feel I had accomplished enough to turn it in. I
would take it out every few years and read it again. I kept putting it back
in the drawer because I felt I still needed to further improve myself to be
worthy," Dad Cox told the audience of DeMolays young enough to be his
grandsons.
Dad Cox serves on the Georgia DeMolay Foundation which funds the Georgia
Leaders Academy (a weekend training session for DeMolay officers) and
provides scholarships each year for many deserving DeMolays. He is the
creator in Georgia of the prestigious Rookie of the Year award given to
first year DeMolays who do the best job of reciting their queries at the
tournament. "Getting a good start in DeMolay is critical to continued
success, and I felt this award would encourage new members to learn from the
very beginning," he told GDO.
A tragedy in 1977 almost destroyed the document. "My house burned, and we
lost everything. When we were going through the rubble I found my RD
application stuck between some charred papers and books. It was singed
around the edges, but luckily it had not burned."
Dad Cox gave an inspirational speech and received a standing ovation from
the DeMolays who witnessed his receiving the award. "DeMolay has been
wonderful for me. It really gave me a head start and helped me succeed in
life." He encouraged the young people to continue their education and become
worthy Representative DeMolays themselves. He said of his continuing
education, "It's not over. It's never over. I just learned they offer free
college courses for Senior Citizens, and I'm going back to school."
Executive Officer Marc Bohn (right) presents Dad Cox with the RD Award.
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