Robert "Bob" Edward Fox

Robert Edward Fox passed peacefully into the hands of God on October 18, 2024 with his loving wife and family beside him.  Bob was born in Kearney, Nebraska on August 17, 1937, the second of eight children.  He was a devoted husband of 60 years to his wife, Loretta, and took tremendous pride in his four sons, Kevin, Brendan, Michael and Timothy and his 10 grandchildren, Robert, Ryan, Emmett, Erika, Sean, Tyler, Brady, Emma, Niamh and Lev.  He had deep affection for his parents, Ed and Florence, and his seven siblings, Kaye, Theresa, Jim, Dick, Larry, Beth and Monica and his many, many nieces and nephews.

Bob was a Fighting Irishman: a devoted Catholic who celebrated his heritage with great pride; a first-generation college graduate of the University of Notre Dame, for whom he would faithfully root year-round in any sport they played; and a man who believed you were put on the earth to make it better. He loved deeply, laughed richly, and worked harder on behalf of others than he did for himself. 

He received a graduate degree in Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon University before beginning a career that would leave a profound impact on the field of business management.  After rapidly rising through the ranks of Operations to lead two different manufacturing companies, he became one of the youngest partners at Booz-Allen & Hamilton.  His steadfast belief that there had to be better, easier ways to manage companies eventually connected him with Eli Goldratt, with whom he co-founded the Goldratt Institute. There and later at his own firm, Viable Vision, Bob helped pioneer the body of knowledge known today as The Theory of Constraints (TOC), which first gained notice through the underground best seller THE GOAL. 

The TOC principles have and continue to be transformative for organizations around the world, unlocking avenues to growth and profits hidden by the conventional siloed modes of management. Bob taught and coached executives on 6 continents, becoming a trusted advisor integral to the successes of such companies as Intel, First Solar, Precision Castparts, ITT and General Motors. He taught tens of thousands of professionals, professors and public servants how to think differently about their business, to see new opportunities and hidden potential. He had a deep belief in people’s inherent goodness and an abiding confidence in their ability to do amazing things when they can see the opportunities. He had a way of inspiring and energizing the people he worked with that left them forever changed. 

He had a great appreciation of and gift for the written word. Like his character, he wrote directly and clearly, communicating with an ease and simplicity that delivered his insights easily across any audience. He wrote dozens of articles, and was a frequent speaker at professional organizations and corporate events, and published two books. He received numerous professional awards and accolades, and while he appreciated them he was fundamentally a humble man, who marked his success by the impact he had on others and the successes they achieved, which were both many and profound. He believed that it was every person’s job to leave the world a better place than he found it, and his life was his proof that he did that.   

Bob’s life and professional pursuits took him and his family around the world as he migrated East to live in Torrington, CT, Madison, NJ, Chattanooga, TN, Louisville, CT, Philadelphia, PA, Stamford, CT, Schweinfurt, West Germany and back to Connecticut, ultimately to head West in retirement to spend his final decade in the beautiful climate of Carefree, AZ.  But wherever he went he never disconnected from his roots in Nebraska and his love of his alma mater.

He and Loretta traveled the world starting with a delayed honeymoon to Latin America, to Japan where he made an early mark in business, across all of Europe while living in Germany, to riding a camel in Egypt, several visits to Israel, to Turkey, the Far East, where he narrowly escaped the effects of his seafood allergy, and several memorable trips to Ireland where he visited distant relatives and kissed the Blarney Stone. 

His sons will never forget the surprise Christmas trip to Cinnamon Bay in St. John Virgin Islands, a lifetime memory attending the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, fishing trips to Canada and early-age summers at the Jersey Shore.  But no trip compared to the three-week trek across America in an RV with his wife and four young boys, visiting his entire extended family – and their families – scattered across the country, spending time at his family’s farm in Kansas and touring many of this great country’s National Parks.

He had a passion for fine cigars before Loretta, a nurse by profession, eventually prevailed on him to quit; he had a relatively un-guardable hook shot, was a masterful crossword-puzzler and voracious reader; he had impeccable handwriting, and wrote with a mechanical pencil, filling hundreds of pages of legal pads with notes, business plans, personal thoughts and letters; he drank Guinness from the bottle, long before the invention of the nitrogen can and would play Irish folk music any time of year; he would rather listen than talk but his carefully chosen words were always a product of deep thought, tremendous intellect and sincere care for and interest in those around him; and he was possibly never more happy than when he held a newly-born grandchild in his arms. 

Instilled by his family, his faith and his beloved alma mater, he believed in the goodness of people and in doing good by others. When he made a commitment, there was nothing that would stop him from delivering what he promised, and more. And he never cut corners, made excuses or pursued goals at the expense of someone else.  He believed in the simple truth that you needed to be a bit vulnerable to the world in order to make the most of what it had to offer. He taught his children these values, in words, but even more through his actions.  The world may not have always returned his trust in kind, perhaps at times to his personal disadvantage.  But his moral compass was never determined by the actions of others. He was far from a perfect man, as he would be the first to say, but his integrity, commitment to character and “old-fashioned” belief in doing the right thing are surely being reciprocated now.

He is remembered as a man who came from a humble place and stayed that way; who did not see obstacles in front of him, so he overcame them; who worked incredibly hard, but not for personal ambition or ego, but for the opportunities it could provide his family and the impact it could have on the world; who loved and was devoted to his wife and lived every day wanting and trying to do more for her those around him; who held a deep love for his family that was at times hard for him to share in words, but was so obviously expressed in his eyes and his emotional connection to the many ups and downs of life.

He is loved and will be missed by all who knew him.