Major Warren “Gene” Cox
Major Warren “Gene” Cox was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on June 12, 1961. He passed away in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on May 27, 2025, due to a brain aneurysm. Gene received a B.A. from Iowa State University in 1982 with a double major in history and Russian. He then joined the National Security (NSA) and completed a two-year intensive Russian language training program with the Defense Language Institute (DLI), graduating first in his class. Following his DLI training, the NSA sent him to Berlin, West Germany, to listen in on the Soviet Army. Following his assignment in Berlin, Gene attended the University of Houston Law Center graduating in 1991 as a member of the Order of the Coif, which is an American honor society for law students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class. He received an advanced law degree (LLM) from Georgetown University in 2003.
He was an associate attorney for two very large U.S. law firms for several years but found working for such firms to be dispiriting. In 1993, he became a Judge Advocate General (“JAG”) with the U.S. Air Force. He was stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany; Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas; and Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C. Due to health issues, he retired from the Air Force with the rank of major. His next career move was to be an attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C.
Gene believed that life should be a journey of learning and exploring. He found traveling to be an excellent form of learning. Visiting any museum in the world with Gene as your personal guide would leave you astonished at how much information he knew off the top of his head. In 1997, he represented the U.S. Air Force as a contestant on Jeopardy.
He was an often-suffering Nebraska football fan, a long-suffering Minnesota Vikings fan and a happy Kansas City Chiefs fan; he attended at least one Chiefs game each year. He became a pilot in 2020 and bought a Cessna Cardinal. A couple of years ago he flew his plane to Minneapolis to attend a Sunday Vikings game and the next day he flew to Kansas City to attend a Monday night Chiefs game. He also loved betting on horse racing and qualified twice to compete in ESPN’s annual horse racing betting tournament.
Gene is preceded in death by his parents, Ivan and Shirley Cox. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Katie Sollenberger Cox of Elkton, Virginia; his sister, Arvetta Swift and her husband, David Swift of Bella Vista, Arkansas, and their sons, Dr. Shawn Boomsma of Plantation, Florida and Bradley Boomsma of Bella Vista, Arkansas; his mother-in-law, Liz Sollenberger of Harrisonburg, Virginia; his sister-in-law, Mary Sollenberger Davis and her husband, Mike Davis and their sons, Hunter and Teddy of Hinton, Virginia. He also will be missed by his pug Abby, chihuahua Pebbles, terrier Rocko, cat Minnie, and four laying hens.
He was a member of the Massanutten Presbyterian Church, Spotswood Country Club and Mount Vernon Country Club.
A Memorial Service will be held at Massanutten Presbyterian Church, Penn Laird, Virginia, at 11:00 on June 4, 2025. A reception following the service will be held at Spotswood Country Club, Harrisonburg, Virginia.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to Friends of World Ostomates Worldwide- USA (fowusa.org) or the Rockingham-Harrisonburg SPCA (rhspca.org).
Kyger Funeral Homes and Crematory, Harrisonburg, Virginia, is assisting the family. Condolences can be sent to Katie Cox P.O. Box 171, Elkton, VA, 22827 or through kygers.com.
