Jack Randall Rux

 

 

 

 

 July 19, 1944 - May 27, 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jack Randall Rux, 79, passed away on May 27, 2024, surrounded by his family at his home in Tarpon Springs, Fl. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Connie, his eldest son, Nathan and wife, Michelle, and his younger son, Shane. He was preceded in death by his sister, Nancy London, and his parents Jack S. and Roberta Rux. He is survived by his brother, Robert (Butch) Rux, and their baby sister, Karen Rux Wood.
 

Jack was born in Dallas, Texas on July 19, 1944. He grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, and graduated from Arlington Heights High School. He got his degree in journalism at the University of North Texas, and served in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam from 1966-68. He went to work at the Fort Worth Press in 1968, where he met his future wife and fellow journalist Connie Thompson. They moved to California just days after their 1970 marriage and spent most of the next 46 years in California working first at the Orange County Register and then for the next 11 years at the Oakland Tribune before moving back to Texas to be a city and sports editor at the Abilene Reporter News. The Rux family returned to California in 1986, living and working in Salinas, where Jack was the editor of two weekly papers in Monterey County and the monthly Central Coast Tee Times. They moved back to the Bay Area in 1988, when Jack joined the Alameda Newspaper Group (later the Bay Area Newspaper Group), as a sports copy editor and writer. He also was on the Eureka Times-Standard sports desk as a copy editor and staff writer for three years. Over his 40-plus-year career, Jack covered the gambit in sports, from auto races at Sears Point and Laguna Seca to the San Francisco 49ers and golf tournaments at Pebble Beach. In his early years at the Tribune he covered World Team Tennis. After retirement Jack enjoyed working at the Oakland A’s and 49er games and concerts. He was fortunate to work security at Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara in 2016 and Super Bowl 55 in Tampa in 2021.

After he and Connie retired to Florida, they filled their days with activities in the community and at All Saints Episcopal Church in Tarpon Springs as well as attending weekly senior yoga classes and taking daily walks at the nearby state parks and beaches. They also enjoyed dancing barefoot in the sand at monthly Sunset Beach concerts featuring local musicians. Or they’d go see their favorite country music singers when they were in town. He enjoyed working in the parking lot at Steinbrenner Field for the Yankees Spring Training games as well as customer service during Buccaneer football games and popular concerts at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. He enjoyed spending Sunday afternoons playing games at the dining room table with his family and taking his wife's '68 Camaro for a drive (with the top down, of course).

He dearly loved all sports, especially baseball (and his beloved Oakland A’s) and football (and his San Francisco 49ers). He was seldom seen without one of those two teams’ hats. Those who knew Jack, knew a man who always had a smile on his face, a calculator in his pocket (for tracking sports statistics), and a song in his heart.

A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. June 22 at All Saints Episcopal Church, 1700 Keystone Road, Tarpon Springs. A reception will follow at the church.
Memorial donations can be made to the American Cancer Society or the All Saints Episcopal Church Endowment Fund, P.O. Box 2584, Tarpon Springs, Fl. 34688.

 

 

 

 

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