13/10/2026
VALE DR ALEX COX
It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the passing of our mentor, mate, and patriarch of Gonstead Chiropractic , Dr Alex Cox.
Alex passed away comfortably in Mount Horeb at the age of 97, surrounded by loved ones.
His working life started in the automobile industry, where he was trained at General Motors, becoming a specialist in all things technical related to cars. He would tell the tale that for his final exam, he had to assemble an engine, complete with pistons, cylinder head, cam shaft, distributor, carburettor and have the fuel mixture ad timing set ‘just so’ so when the examiner came to inspect the engine, it would start on its first revolution. Of course, Alex passed.
In the mid 1950’s, Ford beat General Motors in sales for the first time. Alex thought to himself, well my career in the automobile industry is finished and that is when he decided to ‘get into the business of Chiropractic’.
Dr Alex graduated from Palmer college in 1964, where he had attended a number of seminars presented by Dr Gonstead. Dr Alex initially worked in 2 clinics, one in Lake Geneva and also at the Gonstead clinic in Mount Horeb. Dr Alex soon built a full time busy practice within the Gonstead clinic in Mount Horeb and was achieving amazing results with his patients. Dr Gonstead said that Dr Alex most closely resembled his style of practice, so much so, he sold Dr Alex the clinic and the Gonstead seminar in 1974.
The clinic was so busy, Dr Alex would work from 7am – midnight, 6 days per week. He would start a little earlier on Sundays, so he could finish a little earlier. Although he was helping thousands upon thousands of patients, his family life suffered. There simply wasn’t enough time. At a seminar in Mount Horeb in 2019, Alex remarked, “you don’t want a clinic like this. It’s too expensive to operate and maintain.”
Alex was a guest at this particular seminar in 2019, he was not scheduled to talk. But he did. He stood up and talked about chiropractic, no notes, totally unprepared, talking from the heart. What a treat for all of those in attendance. He lived chiropractic to the very end.
Dr Alex came to Australia every year from 1990 until 2014, presenting the Advanced class. He would give us his ‘clinical pearls’, from case advice, to financial. “Do not get yourself into any debt. Pay for everything in cash. If you save up enough money to buy that BMW, you will find you don’t want it anymore”. He hated the thought of us racking up debt and then be distracted by that debt. The care of the patient had to be number one, always.
He was our number one fan here in Australia. He would tell us all the time, “you guys here in Australia are the best Gonstead chiropractors in the world”. He would tell everyone in the USA the same thing. He loved us and we loved him.
We will all feel very reflective today. We can’t be sad, he had the most incredible, long life. We will reflect on the incredible contribution Dr Alex has had on all of us and the extraordinary effect he has had on the chiropractic profession, not only here in Australia, but the world.
We owe it to him to continue to be best Gonstead chiropractors we can be.
Vale Dr Alex. An incredible chiropractor who never once said how good he was. He never claimed to be the best, he would just say he did what Gonstead said to do.
We could say that he was better than Gonstead, but we won’t, because that would have embarrassed him. Such was the man he was.
There is a memorial service planned for Sat 24th Oct in Mount Horeb.
Thinking of Dr Alex's family and thinking of you receiving this news.
Dr Toby Fraser
President, Gonstead Chiropractic Society Australia.
