Former elementary school principal Dooley Fox dies at 67

Daniela Mohor

Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2001 | 9:04 a.m.

When she was diagnosed with lung cancer last summer, Barbara Dooley Fox decided it wasn't time for her to go.

She wrote a list of the things she wanted to accomplish before falling to the disease: go to the Four Seasons restaurant, drink a specific kind of tea and fly over the Hawaiian volcanoes, to mention only a few examples.

"She loved to live life, and she did it to the fullest," said her daughter Mary Fox. "(She would say), 'Always have another goal around the corner ... eliminate negativity.' "

Barbara Dooley Fox, a longtime educator in Henderson, died Friday before having time to complete the list. She was 67.

A memorial service will be held Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Palm Mortuary, 800 S. Boulder Highway.

The daughter of longtime Basic High School Principal John A. Dooley, Barbara Dooley Fox followed her father's career choice, working as a teacher and principal in Las Vegas and Henderson for 22 years.

Her first priority in life was to meet children's needs, educational and otherwise, her family said. But her interests were broader. She was a feminist, loved music -- she played piano, harp and clarinet -- and enjoyed reading and traveling.

She had a particular inclination for all things related to England and had a passion for red, a color she wore for Thanksgiving dinner, the day before her death.

Her youngest son, John Fox, described her as a liberal, hard-working woman, who supported civil rights and fought intolerance.

Originally from Lewistown, Mont., Dooley Fox moved to Henderson when her father became principal of Basic High School, where she spent her senior year. After graduation she attended the University of Nevada, Reno, majoring in education.

But she put her studies on hold in 1954, when she married Paul Francis Fox, a nuclear engineer and a trumpeter in the band in which she played. The couple moved to Pittsburgh, where Dooley Fox received a master's degree at the University of Pittsburgh.

After divorcing in 1980 Dooley Fox returned to Henderson, where she worked as a teacher at Robert Taylor and Edna Hinman elementary schools. She later became assistant principal at Sunrise Acres Elementary School and principal at Twin Lakes Elementary in Las Vegas. She retired last summer.

During the two decades she spent in Henderson, Dooley Fox always found a way to assist those who needed it, helping people get extra education to qualify for a specific job or hiring Henderson residents in the schools where she worked.

"Henderson helped her get started. When she came back here after divorcing my father, her health was terrible and she needed a job, and this community came out to help her," said her eldest son Paul Fox. "So she turned it around."

Dooley Fox was respected outside the Henderson community, as well. She was particularly proud of her accomplishments at Twin Lakes Elementary. Through a community partnership with Sierra Health Services, she managed to significantly increase parent involvement and the students' reading level, her children said.

One of her latest achievements was the creation of a program designed to teach English to Hispanic parents.

"She was a very dedicated teacher, and the students who were at her school were absolutely the most important thing for her," said Jenny DesVaux Oakes, assistant president of Sierra Health Services and a friend of Dooley Fox. "She was popular and very respected."

In addition to her three children, Dooley Fox is survived by her companion, Charles Garabadian.