Storke Funeral Home Obituaries

Joshua Hutchins Cockey, Jr. died suddenly at home on Saturday, June 24, 2023 as the result of a cardiac event.  Born in Monkton, Maryland on October 29, 1941, he graduated from Gettysburg College with a BS in physics and went to work at the Dahlgren Navy Base where he spent his whole career.  While there he worked on a variety of research and development projects including radar and guidance systems and finally helping to develop the local area network for the Base.  He was especially proud of his work on the Tomahawk missile.

An active member of the King George and Fredericksburg communities, he served on the Vestry of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Owens VA and as a volunteer in the Dahlgren Rescue Squad.  An avid “ham” since the age of 15, he was also on the board of the Rappahannock Valley Amateur Radio Club and designed some of their antennas and was a member of the King George Amateur Radio Operators.  Additionally, he served on the Board of Trustees for the Fredericksburg PC Users Group and led several of their special interest groups.

As a ham radio operator, Josh built his first set when he was 15 years old.  That was the start of a life-long hobby that brought him the joy of building a repeater antenna and designing and maintaining web pages for the two ham groups.  As a member of both radio clubs, he participated in many field day events which combine public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills.  Josh especially enjoyed teaching new ham operators, and sharing his knowledge with them.  Many of those students earned licenses and are still operating today. He attended loads of ham fests through the years, learning about new equipment and meeting up with people whose voices he knew. Josh enjoyed providing communication support with the clubs for events including marathons, races on the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers and Christmas parades.  The radio was always on and he was always ready to chat with his local network and with those operators passing through, either just to chat or to help them find a gas station. Among the awards and recognitions he received through the years, the RVARC Ham Operator of the Year (1987) was one of the most cherished to him.

When computers became a “thing” he built one out of pieces parts in the basement.  Computers quickly became a defining part of his professional and personal life. Through the years Josh’s interests ran the gamut from designing and developing through using and repairing to teaching and providing information.  The classes he taught for new users helped them learn the value of a computer and then how to use the various applications to ease communication and recordkeeping.  He continued the education for experienced users and more sophisticated use of applications for various special interest groups.  Josh developed and maintained web pages for several groups including the Fredericksburg PC Users Group, writing the code for those websites.  He served as a Trustee of the FPCUG where he helped to determine how funds were dispersed to the community.  He was very proud of the awards and national recognition the FPCUG website received.  Always looking for the next new thing, the next upgrade, the better way to do something, Josh was a learner and a teacher.

Josh was bitten by the racing bug at Marlboro Speedway, as a spectator in the late 1960’s.  He and his wife Sheila quickly discovered that being inside the track was a much better way to experience racing. Once there he never looked back.  And here we are 50+ years later, celebrating his lifetime of passion for this exhilarating sport we all love.

Josh flagged events with SCCA, F1, Trans Am, IMSA, USF 2000, Jefferson 500, and probably some others.

His knowledge and expertise led him to serve as WDCR Flag Chief and RunOffs Flag Chief for uncountable years.  His F&C adventures took him across the country from Virginia to California, from Wisconsin to Florida, and many tracks in between, collecting new friends everywhere he went.  He even served on the DC Region Board of Directors – twice!  Josh trained sooo many new flaggers (including his daughter Beth) and introduced them to the sport he loved.

Josh received many awards over the years, but he was especially proud of the

• Jim Dickie Award for Keeping Us in Communication (1979),
• Sue Roethel Life Time Service and Achievement Award (2005), and
• F&C Lifetime Achievement Award (2016).

When the physical demands of working on a corner became too much, he still didn’t want to leave his beloved flags, so he picked up the green and the checker on the Starters’ Bridge to add to his collection.  Best of all, in making that move he joined his daughter and son-in-law John where they continued to flag together.  As his grandson Morgan began his racing career, it gave Josh great joy to wave the green and checker flags for him.  Patriarch of three generations of racers, Josh’s legacy lives on.

SCCA was both his passion and his family.

He is survived by his wife, Sheila W. Cockey, his daughter Elizabeth Burkhard and her husband John, his grandson Morgan, his sister Mary Cockey Hoeltzel (Sonny), several nieces, grandnieces and grandnephews.  Josh is remembered as a proud and doting father and grandfather, a fun-loving husband and partner, a loving and caring brother, and a generous and giving member of many communities.

There will be a memorial service at 2pm on August 12, 2023 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Owens VA.  A reception will follow in the Parish Hall.

Memorial donations may be made to:

LE Smoot Memorial Library
9533 Kings Highway
King George VA 22485
Designate funds to be used for the Creation Station Maker’s Lab

American Heart Association
https://www.heart.org
Designate funds to support CPR training