Maureen Elizabeth Cox

1939-2018

Maureen Elizabeth Milling Cox, 78, of Napa, passed away peacefully at home with family by her side on January 24th after a short battle with ALS.

Maureen was born in Seattle on June 22, 1939 to Robert Cranston Milling of County Armagh, Ireland and Margaret Mary Edwards of Cheltenham, England. She graduated from Mayfield Senior School in Pasadena in 1957, which later in 2014 named her Alumna of the Year. In 1961 she received her BA from Dominican College in San Rafael.

Maureen met the love of her life, Jim Cox, at Lake Tahoe in 1959 and married him in 1961. They were happily married for 57 years.

Following in the footsteps of her mother, she completed nursing school in Spokane while raising four young children by studying into the midnight hours. When Maureen’s mind was set, she could accomplish anything.

While working as a nurse at Seattle Children’s Hospital, she was President of the Women’s Guild Parish Council and taught CCD at St. Louise Parish in Bellevue. Many of her friends were from her years in Washington State.

In 1986, she and her family moved from Bellevue to Napa Valley where she worked at the Yountville Veterans Home and later at Queen of the Valley Hospital as a surgical registered nurse. She worked there for over 20 years and made many lifelong friends.

Her biggest contribution in nursing was traveling around the world to volunteer with medical teams like Interplast (ReSurge), Rotoplast and Faces of Hope. She participated in over 33 medical surgery missions in developing countries such as Vietnam, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, and Colombia, that transformed the lives of children.

One of her proudest accomplishments was as President of a Napa chapter of P.E.O., a philanthropic organization providing educational scholarships for women. P.E.O. was also a source of some of Maureen’s closest Napa friends.

Her greatest joys were first and foremost spending time with her family and dear friends. Her other passions were gardening; playing mahjong, tennis, and golf; traveling the world; cooking; entertaining; and giving back to others. Maureen never had an empty calendar.

She met many friends as a board member of the Napa Valley Symphony Board, President of her local Garden Club, and Captain of her Napa Valley tennis team, and as a member of three book clubs and a woman’s golf group at Silverado Country Club. She also served as a Eucharist Minister at St. Appolinaris.

Maureen is remembered in love by her devoted husband, Jim, brother Mike (Sue), children John, Mike (Shannon), Molly, Lori (Chris), and her 10 wonderful grandkids that brought her so much joy: Jake, Jessica, Andrew, Emily, Zach, Shayna, Olivia, Camille, Maeve, Gemma and her many nieces and nephews.

We will miss her smile, sparkling blue eyes, laughter – and especially – her kindness and fierce spirit. She was a truly remarkable woman in every sense of the word.

Our family wishes to thank Collabria Care which gave her much compassion and love in her final months and our many friends and family for their support.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be given to Collabria Care: 414 South Jefferson Street, Napa California 94558; the ALS Association Golden West Chapter: webgw.alsa.org; or ReSurge: 145 N. Wolfe Road Sunnyvale, CA 94086.

A Eucharistic memorial service of Maureen’s life will be held at St. Appolinaris Catholic Church in Napa, 3700 Lassen St. on February 17th at 11 a.m. A reception will immediately follow at the Silverado County Club Members Clubhouse, 1600 Atlas Peak Road.

Memories and notes of sympathy may be shared at www.tulocaycemetery.org.

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