J. Wesley Fox III

Beloved husband, father, and entrepreneur J. Wesley Fox III died on October 31, 2017 in Raleigh, North Carolina at the age of 66. He was born on June 29, 1951 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, the eldest son of the late J. Wesley and Lois Fox. He attended South Allegheny High School in Port Vue, PA where he was the captain of the debate club and a star baseball player. He received a baseball scholarship to attend Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, PA not far from his hometown. He became a member of the fraternity Alpha Tau Omega and received a commission into the United States Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps. After graduation from Washington & Jefferson, he went on to attend graduate school, obtaining a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Kansas University in 1979. He did his post-doctoral work with Dr. Billy Hudson. After his post-doc work, he took research and development positions at Abbott Labs and Idexx Laboratories. His first son, J. Wesley Fox IV was born in 1982 followed by his second son, Jonathan M. Fox in 1985. He was a devoted father to both sons, supporting them in their academic and professional careers. In his later years, Dr. Fox liked to refer to himself as a “serial entrepreneur” referring to his work in founding several companies throughout his thirty-year career. In 1989, he helped found RiboGene Inc., a company based out of California that was among the first to collaborate with scientists in the Soviet Union. That company later became EnzyMed, which was acquired by Albany Molecular Research. Next came his role as Chief Scientific Officer of BioStratum Inc., a biotech company that was founded near Chicago, Illinois but later relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina. He moved there along with his wife in 2001 and continued is work until 2005, when he helped found yet another company, NephroGenex Inc. He worked as the Chief Scientific Officer as well as its Chief Executive Officer for several years before moving on to yet even more projects. At the time of his death, he was working on launching three new companies all developing cutting edge medical technologies in diverse areas, including therapies for diabetes, acute kidney injury, fibrosis, and cancer. He was also a loving and devoted husband to his wife, Susan Fox. They traveled the globe together and lived in numerous cities across the country, but also spent countless nights at home watching movies, enjoying wine on the porch. Dr. Fox was also an avid piano player throughout his life and loved to entertain family and friends performing classical works as well as composing renditions of popular songs from Garth Brooks’ “The Dance” to Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters.” He is survived by his wife Susan Fox, his two sons J. Wesley and Jonathan, his sister Christine Noble and her husband Dorsey, his niece Elizabeth Craig, and his nephew Jesse Noble. He is preceded in death by his brother Kevin Fox. In lieu of flowers, his family would like donations made to the American Heart Association, in memorial to his life and his long, dedicated career to advancing medical science. Donations can be made at the AHA website here: https://donatenow.heart.org/.

J. Wesley Fox III

June 29, 1951 - October 31, 2017