Lighting the Way: Knox keeps growing in his REMC career

It didn’t take Cole Knox long to move from a right-of-way crew member to right-of-way foreman — only about a year, in fact — but it was a moment of being in the right place at the right time.

Knox is always looking for ways to be more impactful and help people. It’s his personal mission to continue to grow — this leadership role allows him to do just that. Noble REMC is lucky to have such a focused and driven employee leading our right-of-way crew.

But, let’s hear from Knox himself:

HOW ARE THINGS IN YOUR NEW ROLE?
It’s fun. I had similar situations when I was in the Marine Corps. I got a couple meritorious promotions, so I was able to get a higher rank and be in more of an authoritative position. It’s a nice balance between staying connected and friends with everybody and having more responsibility.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PART OF YOUR JOB?
I enjoy being outside. I love Indiana weather. After being stuck inside at some previous jobs, it’s nice being outside and being in different areas. It’s something new every day.

ARE THERE MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE WORK YOU DO?
Probably that we want to destroy your trees, but we want that even less than you want us to. We’re members too, and we wouldn’t want ours messed up either. So we do think about it and take it on a case-by-case scenario. We have a job we have to do, but we try and make it as appealing for the member as possible.

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOUR TIME OUTSIDE OF THE CO-OP?
I enjoy spending time with my family. I’m married, have three kids, a couple dogs and other animals. We don’t have TV or internet, so we read quite a bit. Anytime we can, we go outside to possibly hike, hunt or fish.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR FAMILY.
I grew up maybe a quarter mile from the co-op. I was raised in Albion, and went to Central Noble High School. After graduating, I worked a couple months doing maintenance at Busche.
The only thing I’ve wanted to do in life is the military, so I enlisted in the Marine Corps. I met my wife before I left to serve. We got married, and I was stationed in California, Mississippi and then North Carolina. She moved to North Carolina with me and became pregnant with our oldest boys, who are twins. We moved back home because we wanted to be closer to family so she could have help with the kids.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN YOUR LIFE?
My faith and my family, getting to spend time with them and watching them grow up.

WHAT MOVIE DO YOU THINK YOU’VE SEEN THE MOST?
“Escanaba in Da Moonlight.” It’s a goofy hunting movie. Growing up, I would always stay the night at my grandparents the night before hunting season. It was a tradition that we watched that movie every year.

WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ?
I like reading all the Louis L’Amour western novels. I don’t really look at the titles of them anymore, though. We get them at the thrift store whenever they’re cheap. Now we’re starting to read the “Little House on the Prairie” series to my boys every night before bed.

WHAT’S ONE THING WE DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU OR MIGHT SURPRISE PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT YOU?
I gave myself a full tattoo sleeve. All of the tattoos I did myself, except for two. ... You just draw it on with a Sharpie, and then go over it with the tattoo gun. I watched a YouTube video, did three little ones on my leg to practice and just kept going.