Dr. John M. Cox was born near Southampton, England in 1931. He graduated from the Royal Masonic Schools, near London, in 1949 and served in the Royal Air Force during the Korean conflict as a medical corpsman. Afterwards he studied at King's College and the Westminster Medical School of the University of London and graduated as a medical doctor in 1957.
He emigrated to Brantford, Canada in 1958 and trained in anesthesiology at the University of Western Ontario and passed his American and Canadian Anesthesiology Board examinations in 1964. He served again with the Royal Canadian Air Force Reserve from 1961-1964.
He was recruited by Children's Memorial Hospital of Northwestern University in Chicago in 1964 and resided in Evanston, Il. He became an associate professor in anesthesiology and the director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
In 1975, he moved to Chattanooga to join the staff of Baroness Erlanger Hospital to practice pediatric anesthesia and intensive care in the just-opened new building of T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital. He was the first medical director of Pediatric Intensive Care, and later became the chief of the Department of Anesthesiology at Erlanger Medical Center.
In 1985 he joined Anesthesiology Associates and practiced at Memorial Hospital and other local hospitals until his retirement in 1996.
Dr. Cox served as the state president of the Tennessee Society of Anesthesiologists the for the year of 1987-1988. In addition, he belonged to the Chattanooga and Hamilton County Medical Society, the American Society of Anesthesiologists and both the America Medical Association and Tennessee Medical Association.
Dr. Cox was a member of Grace Episcopal Church, serving on the Vestry 1995-1998 and as junior warden in 1998. His time spent tending to the flower garden gave him great peace & joy.
Dr. Cox is predeceased by his father, Albert (1938); mother, Mabel (1997); and sister, Margaret-Ashford Smith (2015).
He is survived by his wife, Barbara (nee Boswell); four children, Michael (Gina), of Saint Pauls, NC, Belinda (Joel) Blomgren, of Ringgold, Matthew (Megumi), of San Rafael, Ca., and Alan (Elsa) of Asnieres-sur-Seine, of France; stepchildren, Wilson (Joan) Manceaux, of Tracy City, Tn., Derrell Manceaux, of Denver, Co., and Michael (Tammy) Manceaux, of McDonald; grandchildren, Eric, Mikina, Noah, Ethan and Charlie; sister, Anne Hill, of Brantford, Canada; in addition to cherished cousins, nieces and nephews.
A visitation beginning at 10 a.m. and a memorial service at 11 a.m. will be held at Grace Episcopal Church in Chattanooga on Thursday, Sept. 7.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Grace Church, Salvation Army or the USO.