Patty Dean Cox
Patty Dean Cox, 92, of Daleville passed from us and joined the Lord on Friday, March 13, 2026.
Patty was born in Boissevain, VA on January 8, 1934, daughter of Charlie “Cleve” Patrick and Mary nee Brooks. Patty was raised in the coalfields of SW VA and southern WV with her two siblings, Judy and Jim. She was raised in small communities surrounded by grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins on small homesteads, farms, and in coal “company houses”. She graduated from Pocahontas High School in Pocohontas, VA in 1951. Among her fellow graduates was her husband, Robert (Bob) Cox, whom she also married that same year.
After graduation, the two of them embarked on a new life when Bob joined the US Marine Corps during the Korean War. 1951 remained eventful as she gave birth to their first son, Danny, and she brought a second son, Randy, into the world just a year later. Both were born in the same house she was born in, but in different bedrooms. In those early years, she shuttled between SW VA and Eastern NC keeping the family together while Bob was deployed or in training.
There’s an old military saying, ‘If the military wanted you to have a family, they’d have issued you one,’ In those days, service in the military could be more difficult for the families of Marines than today in terms of pay, services, and support. Military families often picked up the costs of following their family in uniform, and they were always second in line for even basic health care service as space was available. Despite that, Patty made it work. Bob earned promotions over the years moving from enlisted to officer. Their third son, Jody, joined the team in 1961. During the 25 years of their second “marriage” to the Marines, they moved around the country including NC, OH, MN, TN, GA, FL, and VA. Eventually, Pat and Bob decided to return to VA and settle down for civilian life.
Patty worked jobs and kept an immaculate home while hosting an aggressive schedule of squadron parties, soirees for neighborhood teens and children, and working. She took on the unenviable job of fixing customer complaints for Sears & Roebuck when it was bigger than Amazon, and she also helped retirement annuitants when she worked for the Social Security Administration. She eventually made a career in logistics and supply helping keep aircraft in the air and other missions alive at MCAS Cherry Point, NC.
At home, Patty made sure we thrived. She brought in household cash when it was needed. She guaranteed Bob was ready for duty with no distractions from home. She could rule the household with an iron fist or with a velvet glove as the situation required. She painted walls, moved furniture, scrubbed floors, kept the financial books, paid the bills, and kept the household running during the years while Bob was at war. She hosted sumptuous dinners, arranged at-home social events for a vast network of friends and loved, and raised children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She wiped noses, dried tears, and patched boo-boos among a thousand other things, and she made a positive impact on family members near and far. Most of all, she loved the many generations of her family, welcomed those who crossed her threshold, and helped those she could. She joined and supported many Baptist churches and causes around the Roanoke Valley and the world.
Patty is preceded in death by Bob, sons Dan and Randy, brother Jim, parents Cleve and Mary, and many other loved ones and friends.
She is survived by her sister, Judy Guthrie; son, Jody and his wife Debbie; by six grandchildren, (Bob, Katrina, Sarah, Travis, Jacob, and Taylor); and by twelve (and still counting) great grandchildren.
Per Patty’s wishes, the family will hold a brief graveside service on Monday, March 23, 2026 at Noon in Grandview Memory Gardens in Bluefield, VA. Patty requested that in lieu of flowers that memorials be made to Rick Via’s World Reach Partnerships which can be found at www.wrpartners.org.
