Fr. Romauld Fox (1892-1948)

Father Romauld Fox passed away October 7, 1948.

Father Romuald was born in Kinsley, Kan., took his first vows as a member of St. Benedict’s Abbey in 1914, and was ordained June 24, 1920.  He was assistant pastor of St. Benedict’s Church, Atchison, when Father Gerard Heinz was pastor.  In August 1920 he was sent to Valley Falls and remained there until 1935 when he was recalled to St. Benedict’s College where he served teaching physics and mathematics until 1942.  He also taught during World War II the elements of radio technology at the University of Kansas and at the University of Notre Dame.  He assisted Father Paschal Pretz in some of these efforts at St. Benedict’s College. 

Father Romuald was a pioneer in the development of amateur radio in Kansas. Father Augustine Rottering was also a partner in this effort.  The story is told that one Sunday while Father Romuald was soldering a radio in the old physics lab in Fink Hall he wiped the soldering iron off on an ample T-shirt he was wearing in the shop.  That gesture brought forth an expletive heard over the loud speaker in the nearby St. Benedict’s Church.   Such were the vagaries of pioneering electronics and the pioneers themselves.  Father Romuald, of notable girth, died of a heart attack at age 56.