Charles Cox

It is with deep sadness that the family of Charles Findlay Cox shares the news of his passing after a long battle with COPD and leukemia on Monday, February 26th at the age of 82. The only child of Ida “Emily” Futch (later Burgess, of Rhine, Georgia) and Elmer Findlay Cox, Junior (of Atlanta), Charles was born on Valentine's Day in 1942 in Atlanta and prided himself on being a native Georgian who lived in the Atlanta area for the majority of his life. His early days were spent in his grandparents’ home on 5th Avenue on what is now the Georgia Tech campus, just a few blocks from where Papa Cox owned one of the first pharmacies to sell Coca-Cola on Luckie Street; Charles's loyalty to the white and gold was cemented early to his father's alma mater, and he rooted for Tech his entire life. His later childhood and adolescence were spent on a horse farm owned by his mother Emily in Marietta on Lower Roswell Road near the Parkaire Field airport. Charles attended Riverside Military Academy, where he began his enduring friendship with Ed Lentz, and managed to survive their many drag races and other teenage hijinks. Charles married Sharon Riddle of Greenville, South Carolina in 1965, welcoming son Eric in 1966 before their divorce in 1967.

At the wedding of a family friend, Charles met the woman who would become his wife of 53 years, Lillian Ann Talley of Mobile, Alabama, and they married in August of 1969 at All Saints Episcopal Church on Peachtree Street. In later adulthood, Charles graduated from Georgia State University and they welcomed Talley in 1975. Charles spent his professional career in the construction business, retiring in 2002 after a long tenure as the national Warranty Service Manager for W. R. Grace's ice and water shield. Other than brief stints in Charlotte and Birmingham, Charles and Lillian resided in Marietta, raising Talley in East Cobb. They eventually moved further outside of the perimeter, settling in Cumming for their retirement years with his beloved hound Beauregard.

A ‘wheel man’ his entire life, Charles inspired a deep love for driving and a passion for road trips in his children and his grandchildren. He was never a passenger and was thrilled to be selected as a volunteer driver for the 1996 Olympic and Paralympic games, easily navigating his way through the streets of Atlanta to chauffeur the visiting athletes to their destinations while he hummed along to his favorite country songs on the radio. Charles was always a regular at his local Waffle House and he and Lillian were well-known in their social circles for entertaining with beautifully laid Southern tables and delicious gourmet meals--long before cooking shows enjoyed the popularity that they do today. Charles enjoyed reading and outsmarting the Atlanta Journal Sunday crossword in dark blue ink, was a charter member of the Robert Forsyth Chapter of the Georgia Society Sons of the American Revolution, was active in early retirement in the Atlanta Power Squadron, and engaged in multiple governance roles in the HOAs where he and Lillian lived.

Charles is survived by his wife Lillian, his son Eric and daughter-in-law Debbie of North Carolina, his daughter Talley and son-in-law Glen of New Hampshire, and his four grandchildren. A Celebration of Life will be held at the McDonald and Son Funeral Home in Cumming, GA on Friday March 1st at 2:00PM. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in his honor to the American Lung Association or the AccentCare Hospice Foundation.