08/04/05 — ROBERT COX

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ROBERT COX

Died July 6, 2005

Former Mount Olive resident

MOUNT OLIVE -- A memorial service for Robert Leighton Cox, 88, will be held Saturday, Aug. 6, at 11 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church of Mount Olive.

Mr. Cox died on Wednesday, July 6, at his home in Orlando, Fla.

The son of the late Robert Leighton Cox Sr. and Winnie McWhorter Cox, he was born in Calypso and grew up Mount Olive. He attended Duke University, graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

After a short stint as a teacher in North Carolina, Mr. Cox moved to Baltimore where he began his long career with the Glen L. Martin Company, now Lockheed Martin, and enrolled in graduate studies in aeronautics at Johns Hopkins University. He was promoted to draftsman and then to project engineer for Advanced Programs, Space Systems. He twice received the Purple Martin, the company's highest award.

Both in Maryland and in Florida, Mr. Cox was involved with the Boy Scouts of America, most recently serving on the Board of Review for Orlando's Troop 24

Mr. Cox is survived by his wife of 62 years, Geraldine "Gerie" Coburn Cox; one sister, Eugenia Cox Harris of Arlington, Va.; two daughters, Geraldine Cox Fisher of Chestertown, Md., and Katherine Cox Hookway of West Boylston, Mass.; two sons, Robert Leighton Cox III of Surrey, England, and Allen Theodore Cox of Pembroke Pines, Fla.; and eight grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Hospice of the Comforter, 480 W. Central Parkway, Altamonte Springs, Florida, 32714; or to the First United Methodist Church of Mount Olive; or to Mt. Olive College, Mt. Olive, N.C., 28365.

Published in Obituaries on August 4, 2005 1:58 PM