Park Cities Legends & Legacies — Edwin L. Cox

10 min readAug 22, 2022

“One of the last of the great oil barons”

Legends & Legacies is a series of articles focusing on some of the most prominent and accomplished families of Highland and University Park.

And while each family carved their own path to the upper echelons of Dallas society, a common thread that connects all their stories is that each has left an indelible imprint on our community.

In this, the second installment of Legends & Legacies series, we’ll take a retrospective look at the life of Mr. Edwin L. Cox.

Introduction
Cox Art Collection
Cox Estate — Highland Park
Cox Estate — Crespi Estate
Cox School of Business, SMU
Cox Chapel, HPUMC
Other Passions & Pursuits
Presidential Pardon

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Introduction

Mr. Cox was born in Mena, Arkansas on the 20th of October 1921, the only child of Edwin B. Cox and Elizabeth Lochridge Cox.

He started learning about the oil business, the industry where he would later make his fortune, while still in high school as his dad, Edwin Berry Cox, and his partner, Jake Hamon, worked the Oklahoma fields.

Education

Young Ed was a bright student, and after finishing high school was accepted into Harvard, but instead, he opted to attend Southern Methodist University, which he did for two years, 1938–1940.

After spending two years at SMU, Ed would go on to graduate from the University of Texas in 1942 and earn industrial administration and M.B.A. degrees from Harvard University in 1943 and 1946, respectively.

Marriage

With the advent of World War II, Ed signed up for service, becoming a Navy lieutenant. It was during his time in the navy, that in 1944, he married a 20-year-old, Dallas native Ruth Ann Rife, whom everybody called “Ann.”

They made a striking couple — the young Naval officer and his beautiful blond wife who had attended The Hockaday School and graduated from The University of Texas just the year before.

Family Life

Over the subsequent decades, while Ann raised the kids and became active in charitable fundraising (i.e., Cattle Baron’s Ball, Crystal Charity Ball, Junior League of Dallas, Dallas Museum of Art, The Sweetheart Ball, etc.), Ed put himself to work building an energy empire (in 1990, Mr. Cox was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame).

Obituary

Mrs. Cox passed away from cancer in 1984, at the age of 60
Mr. Cox passed away in 2020, at the age of 99

The Cox Art Collection

During their years together, Ed and Ann assembled a remarkable collection of impressionist paintings, including masterpieces by Caillebotte, Cézanne and Van Gogh.

They began collecting in the 1970s, with many of the works eventually gracing the walls of the late couple’s historic 110-year-old, 20,000-square-foot Highland Park mansion, nestled on nearly 7 acres on Beverly Drive at Preston Road.

Christie’s Auction

“It’s a testament to Ed and his great eye for buying great pieces,” said Christie’s. “He bought the best of the best”.

When Christie’s announced that it would auction off the late oil billionaire’s remarkable artworks, it hailed “The Cox Collection” as “one of the finest private collections of Impressionist art ever brought to market.”

And the market agreed!

A packed auction room at Christie’s Rockefeller Galleries in New York and a legion of phone bidders from around the world paid a jaw-dropping $332 million for 23 lots — eclipsing Christie’s presale estimate of $200 million.

The Cox Collection drew bidders from 27 countries, with 52% sold to American buyers, 35% to buyers in Europe and 13% to buyers in Asia.

Prices were “on hammer,” which means they did not include buyer fees.
Successful bidders agreed to pay Christie’s a sliding premium of 25% percent for lots of $600,000 or less to 14.5% for lots that have a hammer price above $6 million.

Van Gogh Bonanza

Auction buyers had a particularly voracious appetite for paintings by Vincent van Gogh

The 1889 Van Gogh masterpiece Cabanes de bois parmi les oliviers et cyprès sold for $71.35 million after a five-minute battle of 11 on-site and phone bidders (amount was the 4th highest price ever paid for a Van Gogh at auction).

Van Gogh’s watercolor Meules de blé fetched nearly $36 million, setting a record for the master for a work on paper.

The Cox Estate, Highland Park

What is currently known as the Cox Estate, was previously known as the Rose Lloyd estate.

Rose Lloyd

Lloyd and her husband, Alfred Tennyson Lloyd, an advertising executive, bought the house in 1915 for $22,500. It was said to be “the most expensive residential site ever sold in Dallas” up to that time.

Rose was not only a true socialite, but also a bit of an eccentric:

Legend goes that in the early days of Highland Park, the town’s budget was mistakenly sent to Rose’s house. Thinking it was her tax bill, she sat down and wrote a check for the entire amount.

Another story involved Rose’s neighbor across the street — the Dallas Country Club:

During a party she was having in her garden, she smelled an offensive odor coming from Turtle Creek (the country club had been running its sewage, with town approval, into the creek). Not having any of that, Rose had the drain cemented shut overnight and called the next morning to advise the club to not let any of its members run the showers that day.

Rose died in 1974.

New Owners

After Rose’s passing, the Coxes purchased the estate and undertook a two year renovation to bring it up to par (it was reported that Ed Cox outbid the Dallas Country Club for the property).

Here’s what Mrs. Cox said about the renovations back in the 70’s:

“We want to retain the classic feeling of the house, but we’ll be updating it for convenience and to make it functional. Lacking renovation of any significance since it was built around 1911, the house will get its innards spruced up with a new heating and cooling system and plumbing. The main body of the house is to remain, save for a few minor adjustments.”

The result of the Coxes’ efforts was a true showplace, but it would also be short-lived for Ann, who died at the age of 60 in 1984 after battling cancer.

Passion for Tennis

Ed Cox was an avid tennis player and enjoyed weekly games with good friends well into this 90's.

However, due to Highland Park ordinance restrictions at the time, a private tennis court could not be built exposed to the public. As a result, the Coxes built a massive building creating an indoor tennis court instead.

Historical note: years later, former Gov. Bill Clements would buy the estate a door down from the Cox estate and would arrange to have the ordinance restriction removed, so that he could have a tennis court with a view of Turtle Creek

The Indoor Pool

In addition to a tennis court, the extensive renovations undertook by Ann and Ed also included the installation of a new swimming pool. Here’s how Ann described it in a news story at the time:

“A pool? Well, yes, there will be a pool attached to the south side of the house. It will be an indoor pool — sometimes — until someone pushes a button and the roof opens up.”

The Crespi Estate

After Mr. Cox passed away in 2020, the Cox’s Highland Park Estate sold to another Texas billionaire, Andy Beal, with the Cox family finding new accommodations in the form of the Crespi Estate.

Located on Walnut Hill near the Tollway, this 28,000-square-foot limestone mansion was designed in 1938 by world-renowned architect Maurice Fatio, best known as a society architect to the fabulously wealthy in Palm Beach in the 1920’s.

The estate was originally commissioned by Italian Count Pio Crespi, who was residing in Texas to oversee his family’s cotton empire.

The estate has passed through the hands of three owners in recent years:

Tom Hicks sold the property to Dallas banker Andy Beal
Beal sold the mansion to developer Moayedi after owning it for less than two years
Moayedi remodeled parts of the huge house and listed it for sale, as well as carving out several building lots on the front of the property along Walnut Hill where a group of multi-million dollar estate homes will be constructed

Cox School of Business, SMU

Ed’s love of SMU, from his days as an SMU student and a member of the Mustang Band, continued throughout his life.

Distinguishing himself as a true visionary, in the late 60’s, Ed Cox understood that every great city needs a great business school, and Dallas was no exception.

To make his vision a reality, Ed organized and brought together a group of friends (i.e., other Dallas community and business leaders) to get behind his idea of building a great business school in Dallas. And that they did.

What today is known as the Cox School, was originally founded in 1920 as the Department of Commerce at SMU, at the request of the Dallas business community.

In 1978, the SMU School of Business Administration was renamed the Cox School of Business in recognition of Ed’s generous support for and service to SMU for more than 50 years.

A long-standing member of the Cox Executive Board, Ed Cox was also founder of the Cox Distinguished MBA Scholars Program, the Business Leadership Center for graduate students, and the Edwin L. Cox BBA Leadership Institute for undergraduates.

Cox Chapel, HPUMC

Ed’s generosity did not end with SMU, and he was also a lifelong supporter and patron of the Highland Park United Methodist Church.

The first worship services in the Cox Chapel took place in 1951
The chapel seats about 180 people and is distinguished by its ornate gothic architecture

About HPUMC

The first class at SMU registered in 1915 and school policy stated that each of the 700 students attend at least one church service every Sunday.

Unfortunately, the nearest churches were located miles away and a suitable form of transportation to and from campus did not exist. This was a problem. HPUMC was the solution.

HPUMC Timeline

1916: the first services of the University Church, forerunner of HPUMC,
were held in February 1916 on the SMU campus
1917: on six acres of donated land by SMU, construction of a temporary church building, affectionately dubbed “The Little Brown Church,” was begun near HPUMC’s current location to house the small but rapidly growing church. The first service was held on May 13, 1917, two weeks prior to the United States entering into WWI

1925: HPUMC Church Membership reaches 1,000
1927: First official HPUMC Confirmation Class graduation
1930: Children’s and youth choice programs established
1939: HPUMC plants University Park Methodist Church

1950: new activities building opens

1951: first worship services at Cox Chapel are held
1961: Preschool program begins with weekday classes
1966: Mother’s Day Out program begins
1973: Child Development Program is organized by Reverend Lillian Sills
1989: Disciple Bible Study begins at HPUMC
1991: HPUMC 75th Anniversary celebrated
2000: HPUMC member George W. Bush elected to US Presidency
2016: HPUMC 100th Anniversary celebrated

Other Passions & Pursuits

Outside of business, Mr. Cox was involved in a staggering array of pursuits and causes. Here are just a few highlights:

He was the founder, president and trustee of the Ed Cox Foundation, which made a gift to the Library of Congress in 2007 to establish the Edwin L. Cox American Legacy Endowment.
Mr. Cox served on the Dallas Museum of Art board of trustees, including a term as chairman.
Ed was also president of the Dallas Citizens Council, a member of the Children’s Medical Center of Dallas board of directors and the Dallas Salvation Army advisory board, and a vice chairman of the Library of Congress James Madison Council.
He was a lifetime honorary member of the board of trustees for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Cox was also a trustee of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation

Presidential Pardon

The George Bush Presidential Library lists its most generous patrons on a gray marble wall in the foyer, and one of the patrons listed is Ed Cox.

At the time of the donation, there was speculation that the reason for Mr. Cox’s generosity had something to do with his son, Edwin Cox Jr.

Here’s a timeline of events as reported by Time magazine back in 2001:

Cox, a former Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission chairman and the son of Ed Cox, pleaded guilty to bank fraud in 1988, served six months in prison and paid $250,000 in fines.
Former Texas Gov. Bill Clements reached out to James Baker, then White House chief of staff, to inquire whether or not President Bush would consider a pardon for Edwin Cox, son of Ed Cox
President Bush pardoned Cox on January 18, 1993, two days before leaving the White House
11 months after the pardon was granted, Ed Cox Sr. made a pledge to the Bush Presidential Library

Despite the speculations, Mr. Cox has always maintained that his gift to Bush’s library had nothing to do with the pardon. He gave, he said, because “President Bush is a longtime friend.”