Mr Cox first moved from Geelong into the area in the early 1990s after his life was shaken up by the sudden collapse of his employer, the Pyramid Building Society.
This left him virtually penniless and without a job overnight.
A friend of his father offered him a job in Puckapunyal and, after a year of commuting on a weekly basis as his family stayed in Geelong, the Cox family eventually sold and moved.
He originally rented the shop space on Station St where Total Sports was, until Retravision packed up, giving him the chance to move into the Anzac Ave space in September 2004.
Despite a couple of hiccups, including a ram-raid, a handful of floods and a company-wide liquidation crisis, Peter loved his time in Seymour and the chance to entrench himself in the community.
A loyal supporter of a range of community groups including Seymour FM and the Seymour Football Netball Club, Peter could always be counted on to help.
“Whenever we needed something, Peter donated it without us asking. That was in addition to being a paying sponsor,” Seymour FM vice-president Greg Sharp said.
“He’s been in our corner since the first broadcast and we’ve lost count of the amount of equipment he’s donated.
“Peter would give us all this stuff and then wouldn’t allow us to waive his sponsorship fees. He insisted on paying them. That’s the sort of bloke he was.”
Greg said it was people like Peter that made Seymour a great place to live and work.
“It takes people like him to make a community organisation run. People like Peter are gold. The radio station wouldn’t be what it is without him,” he said.
“It’s unlikely we will ever replace someone like him, and I imagine that’s the same story for several community groups in the area.
“We’re all very sad to have lost him but feel privileged to have had him in our lives and in our community.”
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