At 95 years old, Barberton political legend Kenneth Cox is still ticking, although his days as a rising star in city and state government are long gone.
Cox served as a Barberton councilman, first elected in 1959, and three terms as mayor, from 1966-1972.
He rose in the political ranks to become a state representative, state senator and a key member of Democratic Gov. Richard Celeste’s administration in the 1980s.
These days, his schedule is less hectic, although he continues to be a strong supporter of the Barberton Community Foundation.
From humble roots to a career in politics
Cox was born about a year before the Great Stock Market Crash of 1929 and still remembers the Great Depression and World War II that followed.
He graduated in 1946 from Coventry High School and was born on a farm where his father raised chickens, three pigs and two cows.
Going door to door in 1959
In 1959, Cox, who worked at B.F. Goodrich, decided to enter politics.
“I ran for council, door to door,” he said during a recent interview.