Kathleen Cox, RSCJ

Religious of the Sacred Heart Kathleen Cox died peacefully at home on Sunday, February 12, 2012. A committed educator and longtime librarian at St. Aloysius School in Harlem, her life will be celebrated in a Mass of Christian burial at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, February 17, at Sacred Heart Church, 457 West 51st Street. Visitation will be on Thursday, February 16, from 2:00 – 5:00 and 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.at Barrett’s Funeral Home, 424 W. 51st St. (between 9th & 10th Avenues). Burial will follow at Kenwood Cemetery in Albany.

Sister Cox was born April 30, 1930, in New York City. Her parents, Joseph and Rose Cox, preceded her in death. Sister Cox entered the Society of the Sacred Heart at Kenwood Convent, Albany, on June 5, 1959. She made her first vows in 1962 and final vows July 20, 1967 at the Society of the Sacred Heart’s Motherhouse in Rome. She is survived by her sister, Mrs. Joseph (Joyce) Connors, and her Sacred Heart family.

Sister Kathleen Cox was a teacher passionate about the service of education. She first entered a classroom as teacher in 1963 and was in her fifteenth year as a library assistant at St. Aloysius School in Harlem at the time of her death. Previously, she served as classroom aide at St. Francis St. Lucy Academy in New York. She served twice at Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart in Princeton, New Jersey; as second grade teacher, 1985-97, third and fourth grade teacher, 1971-80 and head of the lower school, 1976-80. She taught at Holy Redeemer Catholic School in Washington, DC, 1982-85, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, 1967-71, and Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, 1963-67. She also served at Woldingham School, a Sacred Heart school in England.

Sister Cox is remembered for her sense of humor and her keen memory for details. A friendly person, she stayed in touch with students and their families, leaving behind many happy memories of a dear friend. Religious of the Sacred Heart Dorothy Murray said, “Among the many qualities I admired in Kathleen was her faithfulness to relationships. … Her work through the years honed her into a “relentless” lover of children – especially those at St. Aloysius School in Harlem.”

A graduate of Annunciation School and Father Young High School in Manhattan, Sister Cox earned a bachelor of arts in history from Newton College in Newton, Massachusetts, in 1970.