Janice Faye Cox's Obituary
Jan is survived by: Husband Rev. Charles Attis Cox, Jr., Madill, Oklahoma. Son David Allen Cox of McKinney, Texas and his wife Celeste and their children, Sofia, Luca, and Seb. By his first wife, David had a-daughter, Ashley Nicole (Cox) Burgess and her son Connor whose husband is Billy Burgess and his two daughters Megan and Kaitlyn and their children. Son Darryl Dane Cox had a son, Jesse by his first wife. He and his second wife Karen, now deceased, had Curtis. Curtis and his wife Amanda have 2 great-grandsons and one great granddaughter. It was Darryl who was a life saver when Jan got sick. Darryl’s son Jesse Wayne and his companion Lauren live in Oklahoma City. Darryl’s younger son, Curtis and wife Amanda and the 3 great-grandkids live in the house where Curtis was born. Jan is also survived by her younger brother Gary Gandy and his lady friend Carla Young.
Jan was preceded in death by: Jan’s parents Jesse and Vallie and older brother; Raymond Gandy and Raymond’s wife Vaughna.
September 6, 1939 Janice Faye Gandy was born to Jesse James and Vallie Irene Gandy in Healdton, Oklahoma. Little did she know that in 13 days her future husband would be delivered by the same doctor at his home as she was at her parent’s home.
She was preceded by her older brother, Raymond D. Gandy and later her younger brother, Gary Don was born. Jesse Gandy was an oilfield worker and was driving a team of mules before he was 12 years old. Jan’s family moved to Ratliff City, Oklahoma for a brief time to be nearer to his work. When the family returned to Healdton, Oklahoma where Janice attended Sunset Elementary at age 6. She and Charles were in the same classroom, but never realized who the other was.
Janice sometimes worked in the office of Mrs. Frost the elementary principal answering the telephone. During her sixth-grade year the class was moved to Healdton High School building. Jan enjoyed being in the mixed chorus and tried out for band but decided it was not for her. While in high school Janice sold more HHS annuals than anyone else and she became the Annual Queen. [Annual queen photo]
It was while she was in Mrs. Mitchell’s World History class that Janice encountered Charles Cox, who sat behind her in class and pestered her much of the time. When Charles needed a date to attend a football game to scout out a team Healdton was likely to play in the future, he asked Janice if she would like to go to the game and she answered “Yes”. From that point on they were together much of the time.
Jan worked at several different places in Healdton. She worked behind the counter at one of the drug stores. She worked at Dairyland south of the city for a time. It was during this job that Jan decided to wear a sack dress on a date. Charles did not like the style. He said so and when Jan slammed the car door, her finger was in the way. But the two of them did not stay apart for long. Janice also worked in the Southwestern Bell Telephone as an operator for some time. Charles loved to get on the phone and chat with Jan until she had to answer another incoming call.
After graduating from HHS, both Charles and Janice decided to attend Southeastern State College in Durant, Oklahoma. They stayed together through the first two semesters, but Jan felt that her parents could not afford for her to return in the fall of1958. Charles did enroll again but the time apart was the reason he eventually proposed to Janice and the were married May 28, 1959. Charles got a job at the brand-new swimming pool in Healdton, without thinking about the pool closing in the fall.
However, Charles ducked the US Army draft at the beginning of the war in Viet Nam and joined the USAF in September 1959. While Charles was at Lackland USAF Base in San Antonio, Jan and Charles’s folks came to tell him that he was going to be a father next May. The news came with the expected mixed emotions. Mostly happy!
From Lackland AFB in San Antonio Charles was shipped to Denver, Colorado and stationed at Lowery AFB in October and because he was still in basic training, Charles cold not get back to Oklahoma to be at their first child’s birth. David Allen Cox was born May 30, 1960 in Ardmore, Oklahoma while Jan was staying with her parents. Jan and David got to go Denver for a few months before Charles was transferred to McClellan AFB Sacramento, CA where Jan and David eventually got to join him there.
While in California, their second son, Darryl Dane was born January 27, 1962. When Charles’ time was up, the little family moved back to Oklahoma. When Charles found a job with SBC Telephone Company, they sent him to Norman, Oklahoma and the family moved there. Jan, David, Darryl, and Charles remained in Norman for a little over a year. While they wee there Jan found work at two different nursing homes as book-keeper and assistant. It would prove important for later employment.
But Charles, while in the USAF had seen transistorized equipment from Texas Instruments, Inc. in Dallas, Texas and wanted to get into electronics. TI was not hiring when Charles went to work for SW Bell Telephone Company. When TI called, Charles went to work for them and found a place in Plano, Texas where Jan and the boys moved there in November 1964. Jan worked at a few child-care facilities at first. Jan even got a job at Texas Instruments for five years. She quit to take care of David when he broke his leg at a child care facility. Later she got a job at the University of Texas in Dallas.
This is when the two nursing homes Jan worked in Norman where she was in charge of finances became providential when Jan applied at UTD for the job in payroll accounting. Soon Jan was doing work that should have required a degree. Jan applied for several other positions at UTD and was very successful in the three that I remember. As I said most people applying for those jobs had degrees. Jan never got a degree, but her determination gave her talent given by God.
As mentioned before, Jan had been a Baptist most of her life. Even after she married Charles who was Methodist, Jan took the boy to the nearest Baptist church. When the boys left home in 1968, Jan decided to find out what it was like to join the United Methodist Church. The second Sunday she was there, she had a class of young people to teach. She decided it was not so bad to belong to a church like that.
The Walk to Emmaus is a 3-day weekend where people can be swept up by the Holy Spirit and most of those who attend come home a different person. As it turned out, the little UMC in the wildwood had a pastor appointed who was quite different than most UMC pastors. Because Jan and Charles were such firm believers, they got on this pastor’s bad side and were asked to leave the church. Had it not been for the Walk to Emmaus, their lives would have crashed after being treated badly in the UMC. But because of the strength they obtained at Emmaus, they were able to find another church and become active in many ways. Jan played the piano at times and sang in the choir as did Charles. Once more the pastor at the new church was a feminist and despite her demeanor. Charles began pursuing ministry and Jan encouraged him with so much love and understanding that he was ordained after 13 years. Jan supported Charles in such a loving way that when he went to seminary, he was able to graduate in 4 years instead of the usual 5 or 6 years. Jan was behind him all the way with her love and devotion.
When it came time for the Cox family to move away from Plano, Jan was all for it and found things to do in Callisburg UMC and Virginia Point UMC, both part time appointments before the full-time move to Chico, Texas. While there, Jan found a job in insurance. Once more her involvement in finance came in handy. They stayed in Chico 6 years in a church that seldom had kept a pastor over two years. Charles was given a second church that needed the kind of help that Charles had given in Chico. In the Honey Grove church Jan saved Charles’ bacon when he fell into depression. She took up leadership in the church’s confirmation class and helped 13 kids storm their way through the course. Jan encouraged Charles to see a counselor and he did once a week for a year. Jan’s love and devotion kept them together another time. Jan got a diploma with the class because she never attended a Methodist confirmation class.
Jan founded a chapter of the Red Hats Society in Honey Grove and they had a grand time meeting and eating once a week. They even invited the pastor to become an honorary member. There were 13 members at their most active time. All were at least Jan’s age and some much older. She invested her love and time and they were much better off for what she gave to them.
But it was in this church that Jan, in her desire to participate, raced to the church’s front door and forgot about the drop in the atrium and she had a hard fall. After a while her back bothered her so badly that she had to have her first back surgery. Strong willed as she was, Jan did not exactly follow the doctor’s instructions and three more back surgeries were required to fix the breaks.
Charles was asked to retire in 2006 by the district superintendent and Charles agreed because of macular degeneration and the need for a pacemaker. Jan and Charles had prepared for this time by purchasing a manufactured home from Solitaire and put it in the Bridgeview Camp at the north end of Lake Texoma in 2001. They enjoyed the neighborly residents of the camp that became long-time friends. They became members of Madill First United Methodist Church where Jan was active in United Methodist Women and started a Wednesday Bible study. She used her financial experience and became treasurer for the United Methodist Women. On occasion Jan played the piano when the music director was unavailable due to sickness or vacation. She and Charles sang in the choir almost every Sunday.
There in their manufactured home was where Jan was on March 21, 2022 when she suffered a brain bleed which put pressure on all 4 quadrants of her brain. Jan had been diagnosed with dementia in 2014. Jan had to be taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas that day where the only neurological surgeon was found. Jan never got to come back to the house on the lake. She went through 7 different facilities, the last of which was Brookdale Assisted Living in Durant, Oklahoma. At first Jan was sure she could get past a broken hip but then she broke it a second time. Later the knee on that leg would not bend without much pain. But anyone who has been away from home a long time begin to dream of returning to that life style. Jan could not because the manufactured home was not disability suited. It broke her heart because she could not return to our retirement home.
After staying at Brookdale from August 2022 to the present, Jan began to fade. She often asked if she could go live with her folks who had passed away years ago. She worried about the two sons she had raised and wanted to be sure someone was looking after them. Filled with such great love of family and friends, Jan developed a bad attitude which almost led to her demise. When Jan fell and injured her left leg, she was bedridden. That complicated many things that eventually got the best of this dearly loved wife and mother. After several days of unresponsive demeanor, Janice Faye (Gandy) Cox went to be with the Jesus,
she had asked for help on July 13, 2029 at 11:30 AM.
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