It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of my mother, Margie Peake Cox, on May 29th. She left this world on her mother's birthday, as though she was being called home by the woman who first loved her. 

Mom was raised in Phil Campbell, Alabama, where she spent her childhood surrounded by the love of her parents, the late Freeman A. Peake and the late Ruby Peake. She was a proud member of the Phil Campbell High School Class of 1966, carrying her Southern roots with her throughout her life. 

Mom married my dad, the late Larry Cox, and together they built a life that took them from Alabama to Florida —first living in Fort Lauderdale, and later settling in Orlando, where they lived for the past forty years. My parents were married for 60 years, a testament to their devotion, partnership, and the life they created together. Mom passed just two months after my dad, Larry — as if she could not bear to be far from him for long. Florida suited them perfectly - especially the beach during her years in Fort Lauderdale, where she went often and found so much joy. 

A woman of adventure and curiosity, Mom traveled widely with her sisters, the late Dr. Ruby Nell Nicholson and Karen Graben of Phil Campbell. She had the pleasure of having these travel adventures with her sisters, whom she adored deeply -they were her closest companions, her confidantes, and her greatest sources of joy. She visited England, Scotland, Italy, Egypt, Greece, Germany, and France, and if asked which was her favorite, she would simply say, "all of them." She once told me that she wanted her ashes spread on the Isle of Skye — a place whose wild beauty captured her heart. I once asked her which place she loved the most, and she laughed as she tried to choose: "Italy... no, Scotland... Egypt for its history." Each place held something different and special for her, and in the end she would always circle back to the same answer - all of them. Yet even though she traveled the world, her favorite place to visit was North Alabama, spending time with her sisters - my Aunt Nell and Aunt Karen. During her travels she delighted in exploring museums where her love of stories, art, and history always came to life. She could spend hours wandering through places like the British Museum or The Metropolitan Museum of Art, completely absorbed in the worlds they held. And did I mention she was also a very good sketch artist? She was truly talented. 

Mom was endlessly creative. She was an avid reader, a gifted writer of short stories, and a natural interior decorator who could transform any room she entered. She loved tending to her plants, and she had a beautiful garden in her backyard filled with a variety of plants that she cared for with pride and joy. She even had a little greenhouse — really an open-air porch — attached to the house. My dad built a covered area with shelves for her plants, right outside her kitchen window, where she could tend to them every day. In her garden, she grew some of the largest staghorn ferns you could imagine, and the space was constantly visited by every kind of songbird. 

By trade, Mom was a bookkeeper, but antiques were her true passion. She loved collecting antiques and running her antique business, Lulu's Attic, named after one of her beloved aunts. Weekends often found her at estate sales and yard sales, searching for treasures. 

Mom had numerous pets over the years, and she loved every one of them - including Kitty, Spike, Oscar, Cody, Penny, and most recently her little dog Foxy, who meant so much to her. 

Mom was a true Southerner — proud of her heritage, her family, and her story. She spent many years tracing her family roots alongside her older sister. Mom loved genealogy, and she and her sister, Ruby Nell, took many trips together to research their family history. They spent countless hours sharing notes, comparing discoveries, and preserving the stories of those who came before them. Mom took a road trip in the 1990s to interview various aunts and uncles, gathering stories and preserving the family history she cherished so deeply. It was not unusual for Mom, her mother, and her sisters to visit cemeteries together, searching for ancestors and documenting family lines as part of their genealogy research. Her love of genealogy encouraged others in the family to explore their own history, including her first cousin Joanne Martin. She loved poetry, gospel hymns, and Jimmy Buffett, and she could sing in beautiful harmony. Many are not aware that my mother had a beautiful singing voice and truly loved to sing. 

She is survived by Wanda Skinner and Brenda Davison, both sisters of my dad, and by Brenda's husband, Jim. She also loved her nieces and nephews deeply, especially Sherri, Julie, Elishaba, and her nephew Alex. Though Mom lived miles away in Florida, she remembered them with cards and letters over the years. Among her extended family, Teresa — a niece on my dad's side of the family — stayed especially connected, calling Mom often and checking on her with genuine care. She is survived by her sister Karen Graben and her husband Rick, who shared many years of family memories, and was always there when needed, someone we always knew we could depend on. She is also survived by her son-in-law, Alex, whom she loved and appreciated. He helped care for her in many ways, especially toward the end of her life. 

She was preceded in death by her parents, Freeman A. Peake and Ruby Peake; by her infant son, Allen Keith, who was born stillborn; by her husband of 60 years, Larry Cox; by her sister, Dr. Ruby Nell Nicholson; by her niece, Renee Cummings; and by her great-nephew, Sammy Sands, the son of Julie and Randy Sands. 

While on earth, my mother missed tremendously her infant son Allen Keith, my dad, her own mother and father, her sister Ruby Nell, her niece Renee, and her great-nephew Sammy. 

Mom had Parkinson's and It was not kind to her in the last stages of her life. Parkinson's is a horrible disease that robbed me of my mother. Like cancer it was cruel and unkind. It brings me peace to know she is now with Jesus, healed and whole with a new body in Christ, and reunited with those she loved and has missed for so long. Mom, I will miss you to the day I die. Plans for a graveside service in her hometown of Phil Campbell will be announced.