Marjorie Ann Mallow Cox

Marjorie Ann passed away Friday evening May 15 at Westminster Village North; she was 94.  Known to her friends as Marnie, she was born on April 4, 1926 in Madison, Wisconsin to Raymond S. and Elizabeth I. (Weghorn) Mallow.

Although she and her younger sister Marlys grew up in the midst of the depression, both of them experienced very happy childhoods in Madison.  Marnie eventually enrolled at the University of Wisconsin.  It was at a USO dance during her first semester that she met a young army airman named Walter W. (Wally) Cox, who was to become the love of her life and her partner for over 50 years of marriage.  Marnie feared that her parents wouldn’t approve of her getting married; so, she and Walter planned to elope.  However, their plans were foiled by her enterprising younger sister who eavesdropped on their conversations and spilled the beans to Mom and Dad.  Fortunately, Mom and Dad were wise and understanding and merely accompanied the young couple to their nuptials in December of 1944.

Shortly after their marriage, Walter was sent to Florida for more training and Marnie accompanied him.  They lived in a converted chicken coop and Marnie worked as a civilian employee of the U S Army Air Corp.  All too soon, Walter shipped out to India where he “flew the hump” delivering supplies into China.  Marnie went home to her parents’ house in Madison where she awaited the arrival of her first child.  She gave birth to her daughter Nancy in January of 1946 on the same evening that her husband landed in California on his way home from World War II.  Walter got the news in a phone call with his father-in-law but was so excited that he had to call back to ask if the baby was a boy or a girl.

After the war, Marnie was a stay-at-home Mom while Walter used the GI Bill to complete his college degree and then worked his way up the corporate ladder.  Each job advancement usually involved a move!  Within 10 years the small family lived in Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cleveland, and finally Indianapolis again.  Marnie and Walter’s eldest son Raymond was born in Cleveland in February of 1956 just before they moved back to Indianapolis.

After so many moves, Marnie and Walter decided to set down roots in Indianapolis.  Within a year of moving back, they bought their first home on the northeast side of Indianapolis.  A few years later they would begin their own brokerage business partly to avoid any more moves but also because they were entrepreneurial by nature.  This business faltered after a few years but they determined to try again.  About this time, their second son Thomas was born in June of 1965.  Thomas had a twin brother Robert who was still-born.  This was a time of great joy and great sadness for the family!

In their forties and with a young child at home, Marnie and Walter nevertheless started a new business owning and managing rental units.  This proved to be a very successful business and sustained the family until Walter’s retirement at which time they sold the business.  However, Marnie was not ready to stop working!  She had grown from a very shy and timid young girl to a confident and fiercely independent woman and she began working for her son Raymond, at Elite Beverages.  In her sixties, she learned a complex computerized system so that she could produce the payroll and otherwise keep the books for his business.  Along the way she dispensed a good deal of advice both to her son and generations of his employees.  Although Walter died in 1996 shortly before Marnie turned 70, she continued working and living independently well into her nineties.

Marnie’s family was always the center of her life.  She lived long enough to see her children become successful and independent adults and to establish deep relationships with all her grandchildren and many of her great grandchildren.  She was the undisputed and well-loved matriarch of her family!  She loved cats and dogs and enjoyed their companionship until almost the end of her life.  She was a spiritual person and was a member of Epworth United Methodist Church.

Although Marnie overcame many obstacles in her life, the past 20 months were especially difficult.  While her mind remained strong, her body began to slowly shut down.  The family wishes to express its deepest gratitude to the nursing staff at Westminster Village North and the medical staff at Community Hospital North for the love and care shown Marnie during the last months of her life.

Marnie is survived by her three children:  Nancy (Mac) Martin, Raymond (Kim) Cox, and Tom Cox, all of greater Indianapolis.  She is also survived by 5 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.

In addition to her parents and husband, Marnie is predeceased by her sister Marlys Williams and still-born son Robert Lewis Cox.

Marnie will be buried next to her husband and son in private graveside services on Friday May 22 at Washington Park East Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers, Marnie requested that donations be made to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.