Draft:Lester E. Cox

Lester Edmund Cox (August 22, 1895 – August 14, 1968) was an American business magnate with business interests in radio, television, Ford tractor distribution, warehousing and distributing, outdoor advertising, transportation, and banking in southwest Missouri. He is best known for his service to Burge Hospital in Springfield, MO which later adopted his namesake after his death and eventually became CoxHealth. In 1968 at the age of 72, Cox died of a heart attack five days after his 50th wedding anniversary party. A great deal of the business landscape throughout the Ozarks was influenced by Cox and can still be seen to this day.

Early life
Lester Edmund Cox was born to James Mitchell Cox and Amanda Belle Britain Cox, in Republic, Missouri. After growing up on his family's farm he sought out his first job cleaning the Bank of Republic and earning $2 per week. He would work throughout his school years eventually saving enough money to attend a summer session at Springfield Normal (now MSU) and later briefly teaching at the Prairie View country school northwest of Republic, Missouri.

In 1915, Cox attended Drury College. At school, he bought the rights to sell advertising for the schools paper, the Drury Mirror, sold shoes on Saturdays, and ran track and field under coach Dan M. "Big" Nee. While at school, Cox became close friends with room-mate Ernest R. Breech and together they joined Phi Alpha Sigma. After disappointing grades two years in, Cox left Drury, notably telling his concerned English teach, "While you're up there talking, I'm sizing up the men around me, trying to figure out what they're good for."

Cox would work in sales at the Langenberg Milling Company in Republic until joining the US Air Corps in 1917. After a training crash at Scott Field, he returned home for a brief medical leave, taking the opportunity to marry Mildred Belle Lee before returning to service. The couple returned to Springfield in 1919 where they would stay and start a family.

Early career
Upon returning home, Cox worked selling Studebaker automobiles at M&W Motor Company until pursuing his passion of music when he joined Martin Brothers Piano Company, of which he would become vice-president and general manager, being instrumental in their expansion into Fort Scott, Kansas, Rogers, Arkansas, Miami, Oklahoma, and Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Cox later traveled to Newark, New Jersey to the Boy Scouts of America headquarters, convincing officials to establish the first Boy Scout Band in America. R. Ritchie Robertson was hired as director and the two eventually grew the band to 440 members in 1928, holding the title of the largest Boy Scout Band. Cox also supplied the band members with instruments from Martin Brothers Piano Company. He would serve as the band's business manager for 19 years, stepping down in 1939. In 1926, Cox assisted Robertson in forming the Kiltie Drum Corp, the first ever all-female drum corps group, at Springfield Senior High School.

Late in 1927, Lester Cox left Martin Brothers and arranged to buy control of a small car parts dealer, Ozark Motor & Supply Company. Cox grew the company as a wholesaler and distributer, weathered The Great Depression, and expand their product lines to a variety of goods beyond automotive parts. Wanting to sell more radios through Ozark Motor & Supply Company, if only Springfield had a radio station, he convinced Ralph D. Foster, owner of KGBX out of St. Joseph, Missouri to move the station to Springfield. He then traveled to Washington, D.C. to convince the Federal Radio Commission to give the station permission for the move. In 1932, KGBX began broadcasting from Springfield. Cox and his partners followed up by founding KWTO, which stood for "Keep Watching the Ozarks", WTMV in East St. Louis which later sold to Mississippi Valley Broadcasting Company, partnered with Tom L. Evans on KWKC in Kansas City, changing the call letters to KCMO (AM) before later selling to Meredith Corporation, and partnering with Victor Baxter in the Pittsburg Broadcasting Company operating KOAM. . He would also owned half interest in KYTV, becoming the #1 NBC affiliate per capita in the county, building the (1,996 ft) transmission tower in Marshfield, Missouri which stood as the tallest structure in Missouri in 1973, and ultimately selling to Harte-Hanks Communications in 1978.

Lester spent the next few years serving as president of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, establishing the Ozark Empire District Fair, and starting the Traffic Bureau.

Later Career
On a family trip to the World's Fair in New York in 1939, he was so impressed with the operation of the new Ford 9N tractor that he returned home, applied for a distributorship, and started Ozark Tractor & Implement Company. Cox had a novel approach and sent salesmen out to call on farmers, learn what they needed, and see how their machinery was operating. He later started K.C. Tractor & Implement Company in Kansas City and Modern Tractor & Supply Company in Oklahoma City, becoming the largest Ford tractor dealer in the county, distributing 15% of the total output of Ford tractors and farm implements. Lester then created a training school southwest of Springfield called Kickapoo Prairie Farm, the first authorized training school of its kind in the county, where dealers and salesmen would learn ever aspect of the Ford tractors they were selling.

Lester Cox also founded Cox-Davis Dairy Farm, Big Boy Fertilizer, the Springfield Credit Bureau, the Oklahoma Fertilizer and Chemical Company. Cox bought Olendorf Outdoor Advertising which became The Pioneer Advertising Company, and then Superior Outdoor Advertising Company, and Overland Outdoor Advertising Company. Lester would serve on the Board of Trustees at Drury College, putting the school on the map by recruiting Rogers and Hammerstein to visit and speak. He also served on the Board of Curators of the University of Missouri and on the Governing Board of Southern Methodist University. While serving the University of Missouri, he secured KOMU-TV for the University, made arrangements to build a University power plant and set in motion planning for the University Medical Center. Additional, he served on the Frisco railroad Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Board of Ozark Air Lines

Burge Hospital and CoxHealth


In 1949, Springfield's Burge Hospital, was on the brink of closure due to financial strain. During a meeting with the hospital's board, Lester stated, "When a man has acquired the essentials of living for himself and his family, money becomes good for only two things. The first is to make other people happy, and the second is to give other people an opportunity." With this, Cox challenged the Burge doctors to go out into the community and raise $75,000 which he would personally match dollar for dollar in order to save the hospital. They raised nearly $100,000, Cox joined as the President of the Board of Directors, and revitalization was underway. With additional funraising, a $1,000,000 building was completed on September 7, 1952.

Burge would continue growth and service in southwest Missouri. Nine months following Cox's death, in 1969, Burge Hospital changed it's name to Lester E. Cox Medical Center and later growing into a regional health care system CoxHealth. Today, the hospital continues its mission with 13,000 employees, remains a non-profit organization, and is a leader in healthcare in the communities in which they operate and serve.