H eadlines
Businessman, Philanthropist Robert Fox Dies at 91
studied economics. Though
he graduated in 1952, Fox
remained enmeshed with the
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
university until his death.

Fox met his wife, Esther
ROBERT ALLEN FOX, a
“Penny” G. Fox, when they were
businessman and philanthro-
teenagers. They were married
pist whose contributions and
until his
death — 68 years.

leadership often benefited Jewish
With his
brother, Fox created
organizations in Philadelphia,
a home
construction company
died at home on April 14 from
that was
soon building
houses pneumonia. He was 91.

across Philadelphia
and, in
Fox was born in 1929 to
1961, he
was elected
president of
Frederic and Zena Fox, and grew
the Philadelphia
Home Builders
up in Germantown and Mt. Airy.

His brother, Richard Fox, was Association.

Fox was also part of the
also a businessman and philan-
Warner Concrete Co., serving
thropist, and is the namesake
as its
president until 1979. He
of Temple University’s Richard
Fox was enmeshed with
led the
charge to
bring Warner the Robert
J. Fox School of Business and
University of Pennsylvania from
into the waste management his graduation in 1952 until his death.

Management. Courtesy of Debra Fox
The Central High School business, which transformed
graduate was an All-Public Warner Concrete into Waste
League football player and Resources. Eventually, Waste Browning-Ferris Industries,
played football at the University Resources was eclipsed only according to Fox’s son, Ken Fox.

“Over time, as the world
of Pennsylvania while he by Waste Management and
evolved and the business
evolved, he really evolved with
it,” Ken Fox said.

Fox then founded RAF
Industries, beginning with the
acquisition of a lumber yard
in Wilmington, Delaware. RAF
became a leading acquirer of
building product compa-
nies, but Fox wanted to keep
expanding, and pushed the
company into developing
consumer products, health care
Model and other services.

Rick Horowitz, who joined
SHE’S CALLED SIMPSON HOUSE HOME SINCE 2018
RAF in 1991, said that the
greatest among Fox’s strengths
By the time she took up residence in Simpson House in 2018,
was his high character in
Barrie Szemler had already lived on two continents and
dealings with others. When
experienced a rich and varied career.

he first heard about Fox from
In addition to being a wife and mother, Barrie worked at the
his friends, that was what they
Loyola University Library, taught ballroom dancing, hosted a
emphasized. radio show in Chicago and worked as a model, appearing in
“And I will tell you, 30 years
TV commercials.

later, that they were right,” said
How has she managed to age so well? She credits a happy
Horowitz, today the president
marriage and learning to think things through before making
and chief operating officer of
decisions. Plus, she says, “It helps to have good genes.”
RAF. “Very simply, Bob never
Call us today at 215-372-8751, or visit SimpsonHouse.org/JE-BSB
compromised on values.”
to see for yourself why Barrie and so many other worldly people
(Robert Fox was Mr. Fox to
choose Simpson House for retirement living.

some, Bob to others, and Bobby
to some close friends, but never a
2101 Belmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131
Robert, according to Horowitz).

SimpsonHouse.org/JE-BSB • 215-372-8751
Fox “loved people,” said Ken
Fox, a sentiment echoed by
OB ITUARY
Meet BARRIE SZEMLER
4 APRIL 22, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
Robert Fox, pictured here with former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell,
supported civic life in Philadelphia for his entire career.

Jewish Exponent file photo
Horowitz and Fox’s daughter,
Debra Fox. “If he walked into a
room,” Ken Fox said, “he would
ask people questions. He’d be
super enthusiastic about what
they were doing.”
For Debra and Ken Fox, their
father could be hard-charging
and loving, often at the same
time. He expected results,
according to his son, but it was
constructive, and he wasn’t
afraid to admit he was wrong.

“He loved all of his kids,”
Debra Fox said. “He was so
supportive, emotionally, of all
of us.”
Fox used his wealth and
connections to build up the
Wistar Institute, the University
of Pennsylvania’s biomed-
ical research center. Fox joined
Wistar’s board of trustees in
1974, chairing the board from
1984-1994. He led a five-year,
$35 million capital campaign
to support the construction of
Wistar’s Robert and Penny Fox
Tower and, today, Wistar is known
internationally for its contribu-
tions to vaccine development.

A graduate of Penn, Fox
served on the university’s board
of trustees from 1985 until
his death. The Robert A. Fox
Leadership Program at Penn,
which he founded in 1999, has
had the participation of more
than 10,000 undergraduates
since its inception. That same
year, Fox received Penn’s Alumni
Award of Merit, the highest
award presented to Penn alumni.

In addition to Penn, Fox
supported Drexel University,
Temple University,
the Philadelphia Museum of Art,
the Pennsylvania Ballet, Moore
College of Art and other local
institutions. He was a board
member of the Philadelphia
1976 Bicentennial Corporation,
the Chamber of Commerce for
Greater Philadelphia, the Foreign
Policy Research Institute, the Gesu
School, the Jewish Federation
of Greater Philadelphia and the
American Jewish Committee,
where he served as chairman
and president of the board of
the Philadelphia chapter. At
the Fox School of Business, Fox
founded the Frederic Fox Lecture
in Leadership series in honor of
his father.

Fox is survived by his wife,
Esther “Penny” G. Fox; his
children, Debra Fox, Nancy Fox
(Jon Edwards), Amy Fox (Daniel
Wheeler), and Kenneth Fox
(Ana); and nine grandchildren. l
jbernstein@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H eadlines
Text-based Parenting Support Platform Launched
L OCA L
SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
WHEN BECCA D’ONOFRIO
had her daughter Charlotte
two-and-a-half years ago, she
was blindsided by how difficult
parenting was.

“I feel like it’s something
that nobody talks about,” the
Center City resident said.

Her master’s degree in
education and teaching experi-
ence helped her figure out the
best strategies for navigating
teething and temper tantrums,
but she knew other parents
were also struggling. When the
pandemic hit, raising children
became even more hectic as
families were confined to their
homes and cut off from support
networks. That was the inspiration
behind Partner in Parenthood,
a text-based parenting advice
platform she launched in
February. “I want to help parents stop
feeling so overwhelmed and
exhausted through parenting,
and give them strategies and
tools to be able to actually
enjoy the moments they have
with their children because
they grow up so fast,” she said.

Subscribers can text Partner
in Parenthood at any time
with parenting questions or
problems. They receive on-de-
mand advice from parenting
and early childhood education
experts, who check in with
clients to make sure every-
thing is going smoothly. The
concept was partially inspired
by the text-based therapy apps
that have become increasingly
popular during the pandemic,
which connect users to
mental health professionals
on-demand. “To my knowledge, there
isn’t anything like this in the
parenting world, where you can
instantly ask for expert advice.

I find that parents tend to post
in Facebook groups, they tend
to scroll through Instagram
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Becca D’Onofrio with her daughter Charlotte
looking for answers, but there
isn’t anything that’s immediate
these days in the parenting
world,” D’Onofrio said.

This model allows parents to
ask questions about long-term
issues, such as preparing a
toddler for the arrival of a new
sibling months in advance,
as well as more immediate
problems like tantrums.

D’Onofrio, who is Jewish,
said Partner in Parenthood
clients have children from a
wide range of age groups, and
questions can range from best
practices for baby-proofing
homes to helping kids follow
directions to get ready for
school in the morning.

Jess Bird is a Partner in
Parenthood client who asked
for help handling her youngest
child’s teething irritability.

One day, her daughter was
screaming for snacks as Bird
tried to make dinner, but she
didn’t want to cave and ruin
her appetite. D’Onofrio advised
giving her a healthy snack as an
appetizer to calm her down.

Bird gave her cucumbers with
cream cheese and said it made
a big difference.

“It also just helped me to
be able to overcome these
things now on my own without
having to stress each day when
things come up, because she
presented me with options,”
Courtesy of Becca D’Onofrio
she added.

Lindsay Catarino, another
client, has relied on the service
for advice as her child transi-
tions into day care. She said the
personal aspect of one-on-one
JEWISH EXPONENT
texting has helped ease her
stress levels more than other
online parenting resources,
which makes the monthly $35
cost worth it.

“I follow a ridiculous
amount of parenting Instagram
accounts, but they’re really not
personal,” she said. “I find that
in Facebook groups like New
Moms of Philadelphia or sleep
training accounts and all of that
I get a lot of basic information,
but it’s definitely overwhelming.”
D’Onofrio also gets a lot
of questions about helping
children learn from home.

Before Passover, she even had
a Jewish family ask about the
best ways to prepare children
for the holiday. She advised
them to tell the story of the
escape from Egypt and explain
ritual aspects of the seder in
advance to make sure the kids
knew what to expect and could
get excited about participating.

She said Partner in
Parenthood is an educational
resource and cannot offer
medical or therapeutic advice.

For problems that are more
specialized, such as children’s
dental issues or disagreements
with a spouse, D’Onofrio said
clients are directed to ask the
appropriate professional.

D’Onofrio also reminds
caretakers who are burnt out
from more than a year of
pandemic parenting to make
time for themselves.

“When you’re too stressed
out, children feed off that
energy, so you want to make
sure that you’re calm, you’re
composed and you have the
self-care that you need to keep
things together,” she said. l
spanzer@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
APRIL 22, 2021
5