Thursday, February 14, 2008

My dad wanted me to post Betty's obituary:

Betty Cox
March 23,1943 – February 14 2008

Passed away on February 14 after a brief and unexpected illness
resulting from cancer of the brain.

Betty was raised in Evanston, IL, and received her BA from Miami
University of Ohio. She expanded her horizons by spending her junior
year in Paris studying at the Sorbonne. After graduating from Miami she
returned to Europe, living for several months in Spain. She then studied
linguistics at UC Berkeley and fell in love with the Bay Area, where she
made her new home.

In 1971 she married Dimitri Lagios and in 1973 had a son, Jason. She and
Dimitri divorced in 1974. After living as an artist in Haight-Ashbury,
she embarked on a new career in insurance, opening her own agency in
Mill Valley in the late 1970's and moving to San Rafael. She operated
her business until her death.

While insurance was her business, world travel was her avocation,
undaunted as she was by exotic languages. She travelled several times to
China and studied Chinese in the early 1980's, when foreigners there
were a rarity. She spent a week in silent meditation in India; she also
travelled many times to Latin America and was fluent in Spanish.

In 1998, she married Glenn Faden, and started a new life as the
stepmother of his two children, Jeffrey and Lily. Together they bought a
beautiful home in San Rafael, and Betty devoted herself, with her usual
energy, to her role in her new family. She loved to garden in the
park-like setting.

Betty continued her travels with Glenn and prepared for each trip by
studying languages, including Japanese, Croatian, Romanian and Italian.

She leaves behind a loving family, including her her husband, Glenn; her
mother, Catherine Cox of Evanston, Illinois; brothers Bill and John Cox;
her step-children, Lily and Jeffrey Faden; her son Jason Lagios; several
nieces and nephews; and her dog Java.

A memorial will be take place at her home during the weekend of March 8th.