Phillip “Phil” Koehler Cox was born in St Joseph’s Hospital on 7/11/1937. His proud parents were Edwin “Ed’ Cox and Loela Koehler Cox. Ed was the proprietor of The Tustin Food Center which he and Leola had started the year before. The market was in Old Town Tustin on the southeast corner of El Camino Real and Main Street and is now referred to as Cox’s Market Plaza.


Phil graduated from Tustin High School in 1955. After High School and became an Orange County Deputy Sheriff and worked there until 1968 when he relocated to Eureka, California. There, he continued his law enforcement career as a Deputy Sheriff in Humboldt County, retiring in 1980.

One of Phil’s childhood memories is receiving and folding the Santa Ana Register newspapers after school in a covered wire shed behind the Tustin Food Center. At age 14, he would ride his bike 10 miles going down Tustin Avenue which turned into Newport Boulevard, returning on Redhill Avenue after delivering papers to the Lighter Than Air Base and to farmhouses in route. He was paid $21 a month.


After Ed Cox passed away Leola leased the building that housed the Tustin Food Center, which was converted into several retail stores much as it is now. Phil inherited the property when Leola passed away.

Phil’s heart was always in Tustin, and he had a real love of history. Phil and his wife, Linda, would come to Tustin twice a year in their motor home and stayed several weeks so Phil could “improve” his property. And improve it, he did. He installed farm equipment displays in the parking lot and two displays demonstrating early irrigation techniques. A 1921 Nash automobile is on display in one of the stores and a 1934 John Deere tractor is displayed in another. He was especially proud of the mini museum he built inside the building that is open to all and features the original bank vault from the First National Bank of Tustin. One of his more recent projects was building a wooden boardwalk on the east side of Cox’s Market Plaza that is like those that were common in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

Phil enjoyed his visits to Tustin and always had a long list of projects to do and friends to see. He was last here in October to work on his projects and start his “to do” list for his next trip.

Phil died peacefully in his sleep in his home in Eureka on 1/4/2025. He was 87 years young. Phil was one of a kind and will be missed by many. His contributions to Old Town Tustin will not be forgotten.

For more information, photos and video. Tustin History.com