Michael E. Fox, Sr. made helping the community his mission
To see the crowd that packed Mission Santa Clara on Friday to celebrate the life of Michael E. Fox Sr. was to understand a lot about who he was. The Saratoga resident, who died Nov. 3 at age 87, was a businessman, a husband, a political influencer, a dad, a philanthropist, a man of faith and — he would want said — a recovering alcoholic who shared his story to help others.
The Rev. Peter Pabst — who celebrated the Mass along with several other clergy including Bishop Oscar Cantú — said Fox’s priorities were four “Fs”: faith, family, friend and philanthropy. “He supported causes that would lift others up,” Pabst said. “Generosity was an understatement.”
Fox was born in 1936 in Chicago and earned a degree in brewing science before he discovered he’d do better selling beer than making it. He brought his new wife, Mary Ellen Fox, to California where he started his career in the beer business. And in 1965, they bought a small beer distribution company in Santa Clara County and grew it into M.E. Fox & Co., expanding from 10 employees to more than 200. After 50 years in business, the Fox family sold the company to two other distributors in 2015. His desire to help others, however, outlasted the business.
Michael E. Fox, Jr. led his younger five siblings in delivering eulogies, conceded his dad had flaws — including a temper that could rival Gen. George Patton — but said they didn’t define his life.
“In my dad’s case, he used those weaknesses to improve the world around him,” Fox said. “He turned perfectionism into mentoring nonprofit leaders and helping them to be successful. He channeled his temper into righteous anger as he stood up for those who were discriminated against, including the LGBTQ community, the Sikh community and Muslims after 9/11 and the Asian community fighting political persecution.”
He had a deep sense in social justice, his son said, and leveraged his political connections to help people and organizations who were aligned with those beliefs — though he was not always on the winning side.
Everyone — including leaders in government, business, nonprofits and education — had a story of Mike Fox’s generosity to share at the service and the reception that followed at the Sobrato Center for Innovation at Santa Clara University, where Fox served on the Board of Regents. But his son Dennis Fox may have summed up his dad’s philosophy best.
“If you’re in a position to help someone in this life,” he recalled his dad saying, “it’s a good idea to do it.”
The world would be a better place if we all followed Mike Fox’s advice.
DEVELOPING CHANGE: Development-minded nonprofit Catalyze SV has its second annual Catalyzing Change awards coming up Nov. 30 at the San Jose Woman’s Club, where it will honor people, projects and groups that embody its community-based values. The public is invited to vote on the awards, with categories that include Most Improved Development, Best Community Engagement by a Nonprofit and Catalyzing Placemaking Award for a new development. You can make your voice heard at pollev.com/csv418.
San Jose State Professor Emeritus Terry Christensen, who recently retired as host of CreaTV’s “Valley Politics” show, is among the 11 nominees for the Catalyzing Community Leader Award. If Christensen ends up winning, it would make for quite a night for him as it’s taking place the same time as his CreaTV retirement celebration at Open San Jose.
HOMES FOR THE HOLIDAYS: A pair of home tours in early December should be enough to satisfy South Bay looky-loos through the end of the year.
The Santa Clara Historic Home Tour returns Dec. 1-2, with four private homes and one public space on the route. The private homes include an 1895 Queen Anne Cottage, an 1861 Carpenter Gothic, a 1933 Spanish Eclectic and a 1935 Spanish Revival. The public space — which also serves as the check-in point — is the historic Santa Clara Woman’s Club Adobe on The Alameda near Santa Clara University. As a bonus, the beautiful Harris Lass House Museum at 1889 Market St. will be open for tours from noon to 2 p.m. and will have its Christmas tree on display decorated with vintage ornaments. Tickets are available at sc-hometour.com.
The following weekend, nine historic homes decorated for the holidays in San Jose’s Naglee Park neighborhood will be open for tours, along with a holiday street fair that includes box lunches, sweet treats and live entertainment on South 13th Street. Proceeds from the tour will help maintain the landmark San Jose Woman’s Club building, a Spanish Revival building from 1929 designed by Wolfe and Higgins. The Dec. 9 tours run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and you can get tickets at nagleetour.eventbrite.com.
OSCARS OUTLOOK: There could be serious Oscar buzz around San Jose State over the coming months as the Spartan Film Studio short “Nisei” is eligible for consideration for next year’s Academy Awards. The movie is about two Japanese American brothers who, despite being interned during World War II, volunteered to fight for the United States in the 442nd Regimental Combat Group, a heroic unit known for its “Go For Broke” motto.
San Jose State alum Darren Haruo Rae wrote and directed the film, inspired by the diaries of his grandfather, Sgt. Minoru Miyasaki. “The story is about my family, but it is more than that,” Haruo Rae said. “It represents the Japanese American community and shows the world our bravery and resilience.”
Thirty-five San Jose State students worked on the 20-minute short, which was produced by SJSU grad Jessica Olthof and Spartan Film Studios Director Nick Martinez. It was made during a summer 2022 course and filmed at SJSU’s University Theater, the Japanese American History Museum in San Jose and in Petaluma. It’s already been awarded the grand jury prize for Best Narrative Dramatic Short at Cinequest and also won awards at the Poppy Jasper International Film Festival, the Highland Park Film Festival and the Milan Short Film Festival.
HONOR ROLL: Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone and his wife Carmen were the honored guests at HomeFirst’s annual In From the Cold gala on Nov. 4, which raised $230,000 for the homeless services nonprofit. It was a fitting honor, as Stone co-hosted the first In From the Cold dinner with John A. Sobrato in 2009. That first event was a small dinner, but the latest event held at Pivot Interior’s showroom in Santa Clara was a bit more elaborate with nearly 100 guests including San Jose City Councilmember Bien Doan, El Camino Healthcare District Board Member Julia Miller and Los Gatos Town Councilmember Rob Moore.
The highlight of the night was a video that shared former HomeFirst client Sketch Salazar’s story of getting off the streets. Her brave tale helped raise $10,000 in direct donations at the event.