Former Butler County official dies in crash

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Thomas J. Cox, 72, a prominent accountant and former longtime public administrator of Butler County, died Sunday in Reynolds County from a single-vehicle accident. The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported Cox dead at the scene on Highway 21 four miles south of Ellington.

The accident reportedly happened as Cox was driving a 2001 Lincoln southbound and the vehicle went off the right side of the roadway. An overcorrection sent the vehicle off the left side of the roadway and into several trees.

Cox, the son of the late Thomas I. and Clariss (Zimmerman) Cox, was born Feb. 23, 1930, in Advance, Mo. Survivors include, his wife, Mary June; a son, Tom Cox Jr., of Benton; three daughters, Leslie Marston of Peabody, Mass., Lori Norton of Poplar Bluff and Donna Gail Steinmetz of Jefferson City; eight grandchildren; and a sister, Jo Spitzmiller of Sikeston, Mo.

A Masonic service will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday with visitation following at 7 p.m. at the Cotrell Funeral Chapel. The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Cotrell Funeral Chapel, with the Rev. Kurt Schuermann officiating. Burial with full military honors will be in the city cemetery.