Anthony "Tony" Boxell, 63, returned to his heavenly home on May 10, 2016 after a valiant battle with a long illness. His devotion to his family and his firm belief in God supported him in his struggle and ultimately gave him peace.

Tony was born to Jack and Monty Boxell, in Lawton, OK on August 2, 1952. He spent most of his childhood years in Odessa, TX and was a natural born athlete! Tony was both a football and baseball star for Odessa Permian High School, class of 1970. Tony attended Oklahoma State University on a football scholarship and graduated in 1974. He accepted a position with Armstrong World Industries upon graduation until starting his own business in Houston, TX at the young age of 28 years old.

Tony was blessed with a beautiful family. He married his best friend, and high school sweetheart, Cecilia Pokorny. They had their first born daughter, Gaynor, in May of 1971. Tony exuded the drive, commitment, focus, dedication and hard work it takes to be a successful entrepreneur at a very young age. Taking on college, marriage, a full time football career, and becoming a father all at the same time while managing to do an excellent job in ALL his roles certainly proved he was on the right path to success! In 1976, Tony and Cecilia had their second daughter, Valerie, while living in Omaha, NE but moved to Texas soon after.

Tony founded his independent rep agency, Specified Interiors, in 1980 in Houston, TX and in 1982 his son, Brent, was born. Professionally, he has been a trusted teacher, superb technical resource, and favorite of many to the architectural and design community in South TX for the past 36 years. Whether it was speaking with architects as if he were an engineer, sketching architectural details by hand so perfectly they could be used in lieu of a computer drawing, or assisting his suppliers with ideas on how to create new and better products, Tony is one of the most respected sales reps in the building materials industry.

As a loving husband, father and grandfather, and as a sincere and loyal friend, he took these aspects of his life as seriously as his business. He was always there to cheer his children on for their sports, to give them courage and support to handle adversity, and most of all to show them how much he dearly loved them. Family was number one to Tony, so much so, that he managed to bring all three of his children into his business and taught them as much as he could so that they could carry on his legacy and the business he built over the years.

Tony is survived by his wife, Cecilia Boxell, his daughter, Gaynor Boxell Sherer and son-in-law, Rob Sherer, daughter, Valerie Boxell Glidewell, son, Brent Boxell and daughter-in-law, Kelsie Boxell, and grandchildren: Gabby Sherer, Tony Sherer, Lexi Glidewell, Lily Glidewell, Grayson Glidewell and Camdyn Boxell, mother, Monty Boxell and brother, Chris Boxell. He is preceded in death by his father John (Jack) D. Boxell.

Tony's other loves outside of family and his work were golf and his church, Prince of Peace Catholic Community. Tony Boxell was a leader in his community, profession and most of all, his family. He will be dearly missed and will forever be loved and remembered.