Rev. Charles Edward Cox

Although he was born in Dodge County, Georgia, to O. W. and Lois Cox on December 10, 1934, Charles’s life revolved around his wife, Carol, to whom he was married almost 68 years. He loved her from the moment he first saw her, playing “Under the Double Eagle” on the piano in the Dodge County High gym, and they were nearly inseparable from that point on. They married on a hot June 16, 1957 and brought back change on the $100 bill that OW gave Charles for their Gatlinburg honeymoon.

As a child, he walked beside his father under the towering pines of Dodge County, working in the turpentine and lumber business. He told his children and grandchildren about chipping cat-faces, driving the log truck and ducking under the trailer when you dropped away the braces on the side, and the dangerous business of running a (turpentine) still.

As a little boy, he loved to build things, a passion he carried throughout his life. He built a boat which promptly sank to the bottom of the pond. Then he built a plane, which he dragged to the top of the barn. In a flash of genius, he thought to test it before he got in it, which is why there are grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

As a young man, he bought part interest in a bright yellow J-3 Piper Cub. He loved taking folks up in that plane. His son Charlie remembers flying over the land with the door open so that he could see the white clouds of dogwoods in the forest.

Charles outlived all his siblings, John Embry Parkerson, Hazel Sapps, and Wells Cox, and their spouses. He loved to tell stories about all of them and about his upbringing in the piney woods of central Georgia. He left home to go to Oxford, part of Emory University, graduating from both the college and Candler School of Theology in 1959, shuttling home every weekend to preach at his student appointment and of course to see Carol.

They married the year before he graduated from divinity school. Cindy came along a year later and Charlie two years after that. He took a temporary leave from the United Methodist ministry and worked in private industry for several years in Albany, Georgia, where he continued to amass humorous stories which his wife and children and grandchildren and their spouses heard on more than one occasion.

Upon returning to the ministry, he enjoyed working with older adults, especially planning trips and teaching Sunday School. His last appointment in the United Methodist Church was at Hopewell United Methodist Church, where he followed his granddaughter, the Rev. Sara Taylor Garrard, as pastor, the first time in the South Georgia Conference, or maybe the universe, that had happened.

Charles loved the outdoors, working with Carol as summer volunteers in the Smoky Mountains National Park, then as a guide at Callaway Gardens. He loved bird hunting and was a great shot, even a few years ago, when he tried to teach his granddaughters something about shooting skeet on the Cox Family land in central Georgia.

He was very proud of that land and of the beautiful and loving management of it by his daughter-in-law Claire Cox, whose commitment to restoring the long-leaf habitat extends to providing homes for gopher tortoises, bob-white quail, and indigo snakes and has been an inspiration to all who love the outdoors as he did. He shared that love in the stories he wrote and published over the years.

Charles loved to sing and to “lead the singing” for revivals all over South Georgia, at conferences, and then at Spring Harbor for Independence Day observances. For many years, Carol was his primary and favorite accompanist. He had his list of great hymns, especially those by Fanny Crosby, and his list of unacceptable hymns (mostly those with whose theology he disagreed). He didn’t mind sharing the reasons he disliked these hymns.

But more than anything, Charles loved his family. First and last, he was devoted to Carol. The worst offense for Cindy and Charlie growing up was to hurt her feelings. The worst. They were each other’s best friend and confidant, although there were some interests Charles had which Carol didn’t share: Braves baseball, pro football, golf, cooking, fishing, and hunting. For years, they rousted their children in the middle of the night to drive to the Smoky Mountains, where they assisted in pitching the tent or leveling the camper for a week-long vacation with no hot water or electricity.

He was infinitely proud of his and Carol’s children, Cindy, who is married to Spencer Garrard, and Charles, Jr., who is married to Claire Rogers Cox. His kindness and love were manifested in his passion for education and the environment and books and family and the church; these thread through the lives of his granddaughters: Sara Taylor Garrard (Tamra Elizabeth Tucker), Helen Louise Cox, Lizzie Garrard DiQuattro (Benjamin Joseph DiQuattro, children: Spenny and Joe), and Taylor Claire (Cox) Anderson (William Kyle Anderson).

A memorial service will be held 11:00 am Saturday, May 31, 2025 in the Chapel of McMullen Funeral Home and Crematory. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.

In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to Centenary Community Ministry, Centenary UMC; https://onrealm.org/CCMI/-/form/give/default or 1290 College Street; Macon, GA 31201.