Edith P. Martin Cox

Edith (Pedie) Martin Cox has died at 93 at Bridges Cornell Heights, Ithaca, NY. Born the middle child of five to John Charles Martin and Alice Pillsbury Martin of Philadelphia, she grew up in privileged circumstances. She attended Agnes Irwin School in Philadelphia and then spent a year at L’Hermitage in Versailles, an experience chiefly memorable for her sneaking out on a skiing vacation in the Alps and partying with the Cambridge ski team. After making her debut in Philadelphia, she was presented to Queen Mary at the Court of St. James in 1931.

She married Gerard (Gerry) H. Cox, Jr., in 1934 and moved to New York City. Although her family lost its money during the Depression, she still enjoyed the activities typical of her set, taking care of her two children, Gerry and Alice, playing tennis in the summer and skiing and figure-skating in the winter, bird shooting—she was good on pheasants but became rattled when a covey of quail

flushed—fly fishing for trout and Atlantic salmon, and, always, playing and practicing on her beloved Steinway grand.

Moving to Seattle in 1954 and faced with grey skies like Ithaca’s (but with a lot more rain in the winter), she characteristically decided she would make the best of it. Edith and her husband became enthusiastic steelheaders, fishing nearly every winter weekend for the then-plentiful sea-run rainbow trout. She was undoubtedly the only American socialite presented to the Queen of England who was also designated a Master Steelheader by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

When her husband began to suffer from dementia in 1982, she moved to Paso Robles, CA, to be near her daughter Alice, where Edith nursed him selflessly until his death. After some years, she moved again to San Diego, where she lived and played golf in Rancho Bernardo and traveled all over the world with her sister Isabel. Music continued to be a major focus in her life, and her piano teacher Vera Stanfield became one of her closest friends.

At age 91, Edith decided to move to Ithaca to be near her son Gerry and daughter-in-law Caroline. She was fortunate enough to live at Bridges Cornell Heights, where the staff gave her the best possible care. Her mind remained clear nearly to the end, when old age finally defeated her steely determination to live life to the fullest.

Notes like these cannot convey the spirit of a person. Edith spoke her own language until she was four, and the rest of her family duly learned how to speak it. She was left-handed with a right master eye, so she tended to do things in reverse and always confused "left" and "right." She loved to dance. She collected large hats and wore them with panache. She loved her family and friends but forgave a slight only with difficulty, if ever. At the bridge table, on the squash court, or on the golf course, she was fiercely competitive but gracious in victory or defeat. A friend remarked of Edith that when she entered a room, she was a procession of one. After her husband’s death, she would have liked to re-marry but never found the right man. She always appreciated a good looking man, though.

In addition to her son Gerry and daughter-in–law Caroline in Ithaca, Edith is survived by daughter Alice Humphreys Gagnon and her husband Bob in Las Cruces, NM; four grandchildren: George (and Kim) Humphreys in Sebastopol, CA; Laura Humphreys in Las Cruces, NM; Geoffrey Cox (and Kim House) in Seattle; Mali Cox-Hite in Ithaca; step-grandchildren Jason Violette in Ithaca and Banks Violette (and Alissa Bennett) in Brooklyn; great-grandchildren Will and Maya Humphreys in Sebastopol, CA, and step-great-grandson Massoud Violette-Sheikh in Catonsville, MD.

An internment ceremony will be held in Philadelphia at a later date. Contributions in Edith Cox’s memory may be made to Hospicare and Palliative Care Services of Tompkins County (172 King Road, Ithaca, NY 14850). Perkins Funeral Home assisted the family. www.perkinsfuneralhome.com