1920
Myrtle
2011
Myrtle Bessie Cox (Robinson)
January 10, 1920 — January 11, 2011
MYRTLE “MYRTIE” BESSIE ROBINSON COX, 91
Born to Nancy Richards and Andrew Johnson (Johns) Robinson on January 10, 1920, in the Star Creek section of Fannin County, Mrs. Cox was a life-long resident of the county. The family moved to the Hemptown Community when Myrtie was a small child. She joined Bethel United Methodist Church as a teenager and was the oldest living member at the time of her death. After graduating from Fannin County High School in Morganton in 1938, she left the community for periods of employment in the textile factories in Dalton and Ellijay. When World War II brought about a need for women to work in the industries supplies equipment and supplies for the war, she answered her country's call and moved to Cobb County where she was employed by the Bell Aircraft Corporation (now Lockheed) as a riveter, one of the true “Rosies” of her generation.
After the war, she returned to Blue Ridge and purchased a home on Mountain Street (located where Brown's Feed Store is now located). Needing to start a new career after the return of the men to the factory job that she loved, she studied and sat for the licensing exam as a cosmetologist. She opened her own beauty shop in her home, which she periodically shared with friends and family. In the late 40s, she met a local Navy veteran, Kenneth Cox, whom she married on April 16, 1950. The Coxes were married for over fifty years, until Mr. Cox's death on September 11, 2001. Their daughters Cathy and Carol were born in 1960 and 1963, when Mrs. Cox was in her 40s.
Although the Coxes moved permanently in 1963 to the farm on Dead Man's curve at the corner of Dry Branch Road and Old Highway 76, which they had purchased shortly after their marriage, and the beauty shop closed. Mrs. Cox maintained her cosmetology license through 1972, serving loyal clients in her home. Additionally, she raised pigs, chickens, veal calves, and grew a famous huge vegetable garden. After supplying her family with fresh milk, eggs, meat and vegetables, she sold the surplus to her friends and neighbors. In 1972, after her children were in school, she returned to local textile factory work as a seamstress at Harbor Roads and the sewing factory in Morganton until her retirement in the early 80s. She continued to work on the farm, first with her husband, and then with her daughter Cathy and her family, who moved back to the farm after Mr. Cox's death. Her presence in her garden was an expected local landmark to many.
Her late life loves included boating on Lake Blue Ridge with her family, attending church at Blue Ridge United Methodist Church, building fires in her wood furnace, chatting on the phone with her friends, reading the local paper, gardening and teaching her family her skills, and spending time with her beloved grandson Evan. She also loved her independence and continued to live in her own home until her 90th birthday last year and drove until past her 87th birthday. She lived for three months with her daughter Carol in the Savannah area. Since last April she had resided at Heritage Health Care in Blue Ridge, where she passed away on Tuesday January 11, 2011.
She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, and her brother, A.J. Jr; as well as her four older sisters, Elzie Culberson, Ethel Turner, Minnie Groves, and Ella Hunter. She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Gary and Cathy Cox-Brakefield of Blue Ridge, and Phil and Carol Cox Baughan, of Black Creek, Georgia, grandchildren Evan Brakefield of Blue Ridge and Alex and Dana Brakefield and Kaleigh of McDonough, and sister Flora Odom of Chicago, IL. She will also be missed by special caregivers Dell Brooks of Copperhill, TN, and Judy Trevino, of Guyton, GA, Numerous nieces, nephews, extended family, and a multitude of friends also survive.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, January 14, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. at the Chapel of Henry-Cochran Funeral Home in Blue Ridge. The family will receive guests at the funeral home on Thursday, January 13, 2011, from 2:30 to 7:00 p.m. A commitment service will be held at Bethel United Methodist Church on Old Highway 76 in the Hemptown Community immediately following the Friday morning service. Mrs. Cox will be buried with her husband in the Hemptown Cemetary. Nephews will serve as pallbearers and Heritage Healthcare staff will serve as honorary pallbearers. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Myrtie's memory to the Fannin County Scholarship Foundation, Inc. at P.O. Box 1883, Blue Ridge, GA, 30513, or the Hemptown Cemetary Fund, Inc. c/o Damon Davenport, 10623 Old Highway 76. Morganton, GA, 30560
Arrangements for Mrs. Myrtle Cox was entrusted to the Henry-Cochran Funeral Home of Blue Ridge, GA. Friends and family are encouraged to sign the guest register and send condolences on line at www.cochranfuneralhomes.com
Born to Nancy Richards and Andrew Johnson (Johns) Robinson on January 10, 1920, in the Star Creek section of Fannin County, Mrs. Cox was a life-long resident of the county. The family moved to the Hemptown Community when Myrtie was a small child. She joined Bethel United Methodist Church as a teenager and was the oldest living member at the time of her death. After graduating from Fannin County High School in Morganton in 1938, she left the community for periods of employment in the textile factories in Dalton and Ellijay. When World War II brought about a need for women to work in the industries supplies equipment and supplies for the war, she answered her country's call and moved to Cobb County where she was employed by the Bell Aircraft Corporation (now Lockheed) as a riveter, one of the true “Rosies” of her generation.
After the war, she returned to Blue Ridge and purchased a home on Mountain Street (located where Brown's Feed Store is now located). Needing to start a new career after the return of the men to the factory job that she loved, she studied and sat for the licensing exam as a cosmetologist. She opened her own beauty shop in her home, which she periodically shared with friends and family. In the late 40s, she met a local Navy veteran, Kenneth Cox, whom she married on April 16, 1950. The Coxes were married for over fifty years, until Mr. Cox's death on September 11, 2001. Their daughters Cathy and Carol were born in 1960 and 1963, when Mrs. Cox was in her 40s.
Although the Coxes moved permanently in 1963 to the farm on Dead Man's curve at the corner of Dry Branch Road and Old Highway 76, which they had purchased shortly after their marriage, and the beauty shop closed. Mrs. Cox maintained her cosmetology license through 1972, serving loyal clients in her home. Additionally, she raised pigs, chickens, veal calves, and grew a famous huge vegetable garden. After supplying her family with fresh milk, eggs, meat and vegetables, she sold the surplus to her friends and neighbors. In 1972, after her children were in school, she returned to local textile factory work as a seamstress at Harbor Roads and the sewing factory in Morganton until her retirement in the early 80s. She continued to work on the farm, first with her husband, and then with her daughter Cathy and her family, who moved back to the farm after Mr. Cox's death. Her presence in her garden was an expected local landmark to many.
Her late life loves included boating on Lake Blue Ridge with her family, attending church at Blue Ridge United Methodist Church, building fires in her wood furnace, chatting on the phone with her friends, reading the local paper, gardening and teaching her family her skills, and spending time with her beloved grandson Evan. She also loved her independence and continued to live in her own home until her 90th birthday last year and drove until past her 87th birthday. She lived for three months with her daughter Carol in the Savannah area. Since last April she had resided at Heritage Health Care in Blue Ridge, where she passed away on Tuesday January 11, 2011.
She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, and her brother, A.J. Jr; as well as her four older sisters, Elzie Culberson, Ethel Turner, Minnie Groves, and Ella Hunter. She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Gary and Cathy Cox-Brakefield of Blue Ridge, and Phil and Carol Cox Baughan, of Black Creek, Georgia, grandchildren Evan Brakefield of Blue Ridge and Alex and Dana Brakefield and Kaleigh of McDonough, and sister Flora Odom of Chicago, IL. She will also be missed by special caregivers Dell Brooks of Copperhill, TN, and Judy Trevino, of Guyton, GA, Numerous nieces, nephews, extended family, and a multitude of friends also survive.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, January 14, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. at the Chapel of Henry-Cochran Funeral Home in Blue Ridge. The family will receive guests at the funeral home on Thursday, January 13, 2011, from 2:30 to 7:00 p.m. A commitment service will be held at Bethel United Methodist Church on Old Highway 76 in the Hemptown Community immediately following the Friday morning service. Mrs. Cox will be buried with her husband in the Hemptown Cemetary. Nephews will serve as pallbearers and Heritage Healthcare staff will serve as honorary pallbearers. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Myrtie's memory to the Fannin County Scholarship Foundation, Inc. at P.O. Box 1883, Blue Ridge, GA, 30513, or the Hemptown Cemetary Fund, Inc. c/o Damon Davenport, 10623 Old Highway 76. Morganton, GA, 30560
Arrangements for Mrs. Myrtle Cox was entrusted to the Henry-Cochran Funeral Home of Blue Ridge, GA. Friends and family are encouraged to sign the guest register and send condolences on line at www.cochranfuneralhomes.com
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Myrtle Bessie Cox (Robinson), please visit our flower store.
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