(goldcoast.com.au)
Final farewell for Marineland co-founder
Leah Fineran | January 14th, 2011
RONALD Harvey Cox had a love for the ocean and dolphins that led to a lasting legacy for the Gold Coast.
His 83 years of life will be remembered today by his family and friends at his Robina funeral.
But his dream of a modern sea attraction left an indelible mark on Gold Coast history.
Mr Cox was born at Murwillumbah in 1927 and was working at the popular Jack Evans Porpoise Pool in the early 1960s when began dreaming of his own beachside attraction at The Spit with trained dolphins, sea lions and fish of every size and colour.
In 1965 he and friend John Reynolds and investors leased 4ha of beachfront land where the Sheraton Hotel now stands and Marineland was born.
The "Seaquarium'' was surrounded by four minor pools and a grandstand and the press lauded it as the most modern of its kind in Australia with the latest overseas design trends.
But for Mr Cox, his wife Teuila and their two children Tracey and Brett, it was also home.
The family lived onsite and before the popular attraction opened in February 1966, Mr Cox could be seen training several dolphins in a special holding pen in the Broadwater near where the Palazzo Versace sits today.
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They called Marineland home for almost 11 years until entrepreneur Keith Williams bought it in 1976 for a reported $1.2 million.
The dolphins were moved to Mr William's Sea World complex down the road and Marineland was transformed to host a bird attraction and then Spanish horses until the Sheraton Mirage was built in its place in 1986.
Mr Cox went on to own prawn trawlers and became a property developer on the Gold Coast in the 1980s.
In his youth he had been a avid spear fisherman and won the 1953 Australian championship.
But in his retirement he turned to surfcasting with his children and friends.
He died on January 8 after losing his battle with prostate cancer and is survived by wife Teuila, daughter Tracey, son Brett, daughter-in-law Mary-Anne and grandchildren Gabby and Georgia.
His funeral will be held at Newlife Uniting Church, Robina, today at noon.
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