Extracted from The Daily Times (Kerrville, TX)
Juanita Cannon Cox
Lillie Juanita Cannon Cox of Kerrville, known to everyone as Juanita, passed from this life into the loving arms of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ during the early afternoon hours of May 20, 2009, in her room at the Plaza on the River Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at the age of 92.
Services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Monday, May 25, 2009 at Trinity Baptist Church of Kerrville, followed by burial in Glen Rest Cemetery. A visitation will be held on Sunday, May 24, 2009 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Grimes Funeral Chapels in Kerrville.
Juanita was born on April 6, 1917 (the day the United States entered World War I) on a farm in Atoka County, Oklahoma. Her parents were James Alexander Cannon and Theoria Axley Rinehart Cannon. Juanita had numerous brothers and sisters.
In 1919, the family moved to Onapa, Oklahoma, where Juanita's father owned a grocery store. Juanita attended schools in Onapa and Checotah, OK, graduating from Onapa High School in 1936. In high school, she played on a girls' basketball team that won an Oklahoma state championship. After graduating from high school, she attended Connors Junior College in Warner, OK and later transferred to Oklahoma A and M College (now known as Oklahoma State University) in Stillwater, OK from which she graduated in 1940 with a degree in Home Economics.
She soon began her teaching career in Westville, OK. While attending Oklahoma A and M, Juanita met and began dating Bruce Cox of Coalgate, OK. He became the love of her life and they were married on November 29, 1940 (Bruce's birthday) in Ft. Smith, AR. She continued to teach school until the outbreak of World War II, when Bruce joined the Army as a Lieutenant in the Signal Corps. They traveled to various places stateside while Bruce underwent training before shipping overseas to serve in the Pacific Theater in Australia and New Guinea.
While Bruce was overseas, Juanita took a job with the Boeing Aircraft Company in Wichita, KS. She was an aircraft inspector who was involved in testing secret equipment for the B-29 bomber.
Reunited after World War II, Juanita and Bruce moved back to Oklahoma and eventually settled in Tulsa, where Bruce worked for the Army Corps of Engineers. By this time they had two young sons to raise, and Juanita was a homemaker for several years until returned to teaching in the late 1950's. She earned a Masters degree from the University of Tulsa and taught in the Tulsa Public Schools until 1971, when Bruce was transferred to Vicksburg, MS. Juanita briefly taught in Vicksburg until Bruce retired in 1972, at which time she also retired from teaching.
After retirement, they lived in various places in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. They finally settle in Kerrville in 1990 and lived together in a house in Greewood Forest until Bruce's death in 2002.
After Bruce's death, Juanita moved into an assisted living apartment until 2008, when she moved into the skilled nursing facility at Plaza on the River.Juanita taught Sunday School for many years in various churches in the many places where she lived. She loved teaching the Bible and, until only recently, taught a Bible class at Plaza on the River.
Juanita is survived by her two sons, Dr. Richard B. Cox, Jr. and his wife, Melinda of Kerrville and Dr. Robert E. Cox and his wife, Karen of Edmonds, WA; two sisters, Dorothy Williams and her husband, Doug of Checotah, OK and Nadine Harnage and her husband, Dobbin of Muskogee, OK; four grandchildren, Trey Cox of Kerrville, Paul Cox of Broken Arrow, OK and Jennifer and Allison Cox of the Seattle, WA area and nieces, nephews and cousins beyond number.
The family wishes to express its gratitude to Dr. James Young, the staff of Plaza on the River and the staff of Peterson Hospice for the excellent care Juanita received from them.
Memorial remembrances may be made in Juanita's name to the Building Fund of Trinity Baptist Church in Kerrville.
Saturday, May 23, 2009