Donald Gregory Cox (1932 – 2024)
Don Cox was born in Turtleford, Saskatchewan and grew up on the family farm in the Lashburn area. He had to plough the fields after his father broke his back. At age sixteen, he travelled to the Yukon to work as a welder and mechanic in Whitehorse. He returned to his family now living on a farm near Dawson Creek, British Columbia and met his future wife, Marie. They were married in 1960. Don and Marie moved to Watson Lake in 1962, and they stayed for seventeen years and raised two daughters. Don owned and operated the Texaco Service Station, managed the sawmill, and with two partners started Performance Communications to bring cable network to the town. Don was always an active member of the Yukon business community and, in Watson Lake, he was the chair of the local improvement district.1)
Don was managing the Northern Metallic Sales tire shop in Watson Lake in 1979 when he bought into the company. He moved to Whitehorse and , over the years, the business expanded to include seven branches.2) Don’s partners retired or died, and he was left as sole owner.3) Don Cox Enterprises expanded to include New North Truck & Equipment and New North Glass. He also tried gold mining in the Indian River region and silver mining in the Keno area.4) Don earned his pilot’s license in 1980s and he bought a plane He traversed the territory and visited the many branches of his business.
In 2000, Cox was the vice-president of the national Progressive Conservative Party. In May, the Tories were talking with some high-profile Yukoners as possible candidates for the federal election.5) Cox ran in the same election that saw Larry Bagnell beat out incumbent Louise Hardy by seventy votes.6)
In 2007, Cox sold his chain of Northern Metallic stores in the Yukon and NWT to an Alberta firm, NorTerra Inc. The company bought a number of companies including Independent Industrial Supply and Northern Industrial Sales in British Columbia. The new enterprise operated the chain of stores as Northern Industrial Sales with Independent Industrial Supply owner Derek Wilson at the helm as president. In 2007, the president of NorTerra was Carmen Loberg and the company was owned by the Inuvialuit Development Corp (IDC) and the Nunasi Corp (Nunasi). NorTerra also had airline and transportation interests throughout the north. Cox acted as a part-time consultant for TerraNova.7)