Edward A Cox Sr

View Funeral Webcast Edward Alexander Cox died on January 23, 2014 in Columbia, Tennessee. He was 91 years old. A Service of Death and Resurrection will be held at First United Methodist Church in Columbia at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 26, with the Rev. Scott Aleridge and the Rev. Melinda Britt officiating. Burial will follow in Polk Memorial Gardens with military honors provided by Herbert Griffin American Legion Post 19. The family will visit with friends Saturday from 4:00 - 7:00 P.M. at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home and Sunday after 2:00 P.M. in the church atrium. Condolences may be offered online at www.oakesandnichols.com. A native of Jackson County, Tennessee, he was the son of the late John M. and Essie M. Cox. He graduated from Jackson County public schools. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Tennessee Tech, a Master's degree from The University of Tennessee, and did further study at Peabody College, The University of Tennessee-Nashville, and Middle Tennessee State University. After teaching elementary school in Jackson County, he joined the U. S. Army Air Corps where he served during World War II as a co-pilot of a B-17 aircraft the crew named Miss Aldaflack, flying 35 combat missions over Germany and France, and afterwards as a flight instructor. He was discharged from duty as a first lieutenant on July 26, 1945. He taught vocational education at Columbia Central High School for ten years, and served twenty-one years as Maury County Superintendent of Schools, followed by two years as Tennessee Commissioner of Education. Maury County named the E. A. Cox Middle School in his honor. He served as Director of Planning and Training for First Farmers and Merchants Bank for fifteen years before retirement. He was a past president of the Maury County Education Association, the Tennessee Association of School Administrators, and past chairman of the Tennessee Superintendents' Study Council. He was a member of the Maury County Retired Teachers Association and a former member of the Tennessee Education Association. He was a member of the Columbia Kiwanis Club for 65 years, with 56 years perfect attendance, and served as past president of the club and as past lieutenant governor of the Kentucky-Tennessee Division of Kiwanis International. He was a past member of the Columbia Board of Public Utilities and Maury County Red Cross, and past president of the Maury County Unit of the American Heart Association and the Central Tennessee ALS Association. He was a member of First United Methodist Church in Columbia, where he served as a Sunday school teacher and a member of the administrative board. He was married for 52 years to Willie Brooks Cox, who preceded him in death on August 12, 1996. He is survived by daughters, Suzanne (Houston) Parks of Columbia, Nancy Elizabeth (David) Esa of Knoxville; son, Edward A. (Lisa) Cox, Jr. of Knoxville; grandsons, Alexander Parks of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Edward Cox, III of Atlanta, Georgia, and Russell Cox of College Park, Maryland; sisters, Betty Draper of Nashville and Tennie Pope of Memphis; and brother John Cox of Memphis. He was preceded in death by sisters Georgia Emma Cox and Ruby Cox, and brothers Frank Cox, Collins Cox, and Bruce Cox. Pallbearers will be grandsons and nephews. Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Ayers-Whitney Sunday school class, members of the Maury County Retired Teachers Association, Maury County school administrators, present and former officers of First Farmers and Merchants Bank, and present and past members of the Columbia Kiwanis Club. Memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church, 222 West 7th Street, Columbia, Tennessee 38401, the Maury County Retired Teachers Scholarship Endowment, c/o Margaret Pickle, 132 N. Laurel Circle, Columbia, TN 38401, or elsewhere at the donor's choice.