Bernice Frances Fox

Bernice F. Fox, 94, of Missouri Street, Carlsbad, NM, passed away Saturday, July 5, 2014 at Lakeview Christian Home. There will be no visitation, cremation has taken place. A Memorial Service is scheduled for Tuesday, July 22, 2014, 11:00 AM, at Grace Episcopal Church with Father Rod Hurst officiating. Interment will follow in Grace Episcopal Church Columbarium, Carlsbad, New Mexico. Denton-Wood Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. Bernice Fox was born on February 6, 1920, in Bloomington, Illinois, to Oscar L. and Frances Welch. In 1922, the family moved to Champaign, Illinois, where she grew up and graduated from Champaign High School in 1938. She married Wilbur Kincaid on February 25, 1942, and moved to Ohio where she worked for the War Department at Patterson Field, Ohio. She later moved back to Champaign, Illinois, and worked at Burnham City Hospital as bookkeeper. She and Mr. Kincaid were divorced in 1945. He preceded her in death. She married William Fox of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 11, 1951, at University Christian Church, in Champaign, Illinois, and continued working at Burnham City Hospital as bookkeeper until 1953 when she began working for the Illinois Welfare Department. Bernice worked there until 1965 when she and her husband moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. They owned and operated small motels in several cities in New Mexico and moved to Carlsbad in 1973. Bernice worked as a legal secretary for John B. Walker until he became District Judge. She then worked for Dick A. Blenden for ten years. From December 1990 until May 1992 she worked as a secretary at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. In January 1993, she went to work for the Department of Energy and remained there until she retired December 31, 2001. At her retirement party at the Department of Energy Carlsbad Field Office on December 13, 2001, she was honored by a proclamation from Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil proclaiming that December 31, 2001, as Bernice Fox Day. She also was given a testimonial by Senator Pete Domenici honoring her as the oldest person working in the Department of Energy complex and it has been entered in the Congressional Record in Congress. Bernice received letters of congratulation from President George W. Bush, the Secretary of Energy, and Governor Gary Johnson. Bernice was a lifetime member of the Triumph Rebekah Lodge No. 410 of Champaign, Illinois until the chapter closed in 2001. She was a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, William Fox and brothers: Norman Welch and Vincent Welch. She is survived by one son, Rodger L. Kincaid of Carlsbad, NM; grandchildren: Terri Jensen, Lee Kincaid; great-grandchildren: Tonya Wiese, Kenneth Jensen, Jr., Alexis Coleman and friend, Graydon C. Clark. Memorial contributions may be made to Grace Episcopal Church, 508 West Fox Street, Carlsbad, NM 88220. Condolences may be expressed at dentonwood.com.