Tom Fox

Tom Fox, age 54, of Clear Brook, Virginia, was a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), an ecumenical violence-reduction program with roots in the historic peace churches-the Mennonite, Brethren and Religious Society of Friends. Mr. Fox was a practicing Quaker for 22 years, and worked for the past two years with CPT in Palestine and Iraq. He was a dedicated father of two children. He was an accomplished musician who played the bass clarinet and the recorder. Mr. Fox devoted much of his time to working with children. He served as an adult leader of youth programs and worked at a Quaker camp for youth. He facilitated young people’s participation in opposing war and violence. Mr. Fox believed that "there is that of God in every person" which is why work for peace was so important to him. While in Iraq, he worked with CPT in partnership with Iraqi human rights organizations to promote peace, providing first-hand, independent reports from the region, working with detainees of both United States and Iraqi forces, and training others in non-violent intervention and human rights documentation. Mr. Fox was abducted Nov. 26, 2005 with three other CPTers in Iraq. On March 9, 2006, after more than one hundred days as a hostage, he was found shot dead in a Baghdad neighborhood. His fellow peacemakers, Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, Jim Loney, 41, and Norman Kember, 74, were safely released in Baghdad on March 23, 2006, after three months of captivity. CPT has been present in Iraq since October, 2002. For more information, please visit www.cpt.org.