Margie Lee Bray Cox was called to Heaven too suddenly on September 5, 2024. Margie was born prematurely in Fork Mountain, Tennessee to Noble Bray and Ocie Phillips and raised by her grandparents Albert and Nancy Phillips in Oliver Springs. She bragged about her diminutive size, as they kept her in a shoe box for safety and warmth. Margie’s stature always remained small but her presence was without end.

Margie graduated from Oliver Springs High School in 1955. She was a cheerleader who fell in love with her best friend and star basketball player, Hugh Bernard Cox. These two married later that same year and their beautiful union has so far produced four children, nine grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. She is survived by her brother, Roger Bray, her children, Vicki (Ray) Adams, Stanley (Anneida) Cox, Steve (Marie) Cox, and Linda (Chris) Newton as well as her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Margie kept herself busy and active with many hobbies, foremost among them painting. She excelled in free hand on canvas, wood, and metal. Our walls are filled with priceless treasures from her brushes. She always considered herself a dabbler, but for those who own one of her paintings, it is considered a treasure. She enjoyed painting ceramics and donated many to Beech Park Baptist Church for a Mission fundraiser.

When age began to affect her painting ability, she turned to gardening, another love. Margie enjoyed tending vegetable and flower gardens, watering, trimming, shading, or sunning as the need arose.

Margie enjoyed her family immensely. She loved her sons, whose playful antics in their 60s kept her laughing and sharp. She loved her daughters, who took her shopping and enjoyed cooking with her. Margie was a holdout from past days, when meals were heavy, hearty, and meant to be shared around a large, boisterous table. She loved her in-law children, especially Marie Cox, who had the lion’s share of responsibility for daily activities and was a nurse, a taxi service, and a friend.

Margie Cox was just shy of turning 89 this month. We asked her once what defined her as a person. “I am a believing Christian who loves my husband above all things. Everything else follows that.” She lost her husband nearly three years ago and has missed him every single day since. We don’t want to say she was in a hurry to be with him again – she still enjoyed her family and friends. But she was absolutely prepared and excited for the reunion. She recommitted her life to Christ and was baptized again.

We look to Heaven now through teary eyes. But we give God a pass for taking her from us as we think of her sitting under His throne in the warm and passionate embrace of her loving husband.

The family will receive friends on Monday night, from 5-7 pm, at Sharp Funeral Home in Oliver Springs. A funeral service will begin at 7 pm. A graveside service will be held at Anderson Memorial Gardens on Tuesday, at 11 am.

Premier Sharp Funeral Home is proud to be serving the Cox family. www.sharpfh.com.