From my wife

My Two Favorite Men

Lately I’ve been hearing the term “born and raised here” quite a lot, as if it is a requirement for leadership.  I do understand the thought process of not wanting an outsider to come into our beloved community and start changing all of the things we love, so to educate anyone that might be wondering about my husband’s history, here is a little information.  Rich was born in Roosevelt Utah and moved to Steamboat when he was 2 years old.  At 5, his stepdad moved the family to Craig where Rich grew up a little north of town on Highway 13.  His stepdad worked at Peabody Coal.  I met him in Denver while I was just “passing through”.  When we met, he asked where I was from, I told him Meeker, he said, “Oh I’m from Craig” and my first response was “I’m sorry”. 😊 We laughed about that, knowing that no one gets to determine where they are born, they only get to choose where they stay. 

My dad, Rayburn Cox, was raised in Paonia, and my mom Jeanie was raised in Gunnison.  They settled in Meeker in 1981 where they raised their children and loved this community.  I understand the deep pride that comes with being raised in Rio Blanco County, it must be in the water 😉.  My dad’s love for this community surpassed even his health.  This elevation was hard on his body, so he would have to go to lower elevation from time to time, but his love for this place and the people here always brought him back.  Before he passed away in 2004, he started the Church at Meeker, a non-denominational Christian church where loving God and loving people were the most important things.  After his death others took over his leadership in the church, in 2015 they were again looking for a pastor.  Rich and I had always wanted to come back home.  This is the place we loved.  This is the place where it all started for us; we were married 30 years ago in Faith Baptist Church on the corner of 11th and Garfield, back when it was still painted white boards.  This was home. 

In January of 2016 we had the opportunity to return home.  Rich took the Pastoral role at The Church at Meeker, where he has been able to continue in this Legacy of Love.  He didn’t just step into a pulpit; he stepped into a responsibility to the people my father loved so much. He didn’t just “move here” he has faithfully loved and served this community for the last decade. 

I have had the honor of standing beside him for the last 30 years as we forged a life from scratch.  He wasn’t privileged to receive a family business; he had to make his own.  Learning along the way, successfully building businesses, a life, a family, doing hard things simply because they were the right thing to do.  I have seen his leadership qualities, and he does not possess those qualities because of where he came from, but because of what he’s come through.  My two favorite men have more in common than just their good looks 😊.  They both know how to love and serve this community, not because they were born and raised here, but because they chose here.

In loving memory of my dad Rayburn Cox,

Beth Ford