IRIS WINGATE COX, 85, FT. LAUDERDALE PIONEER


Iris Wingate Cox's life was not always easy, but the hardships and struggles didn't stop her from concentrating on the positives in her life.

Cox, a Fort Lauderdale native, died Friday of congestive heart failure. She was 85.

''She didn't dwell on the negative,'' said her sister, Beverly Horton. ''She had a full life and she enjoyed it.''

Cox was born on March 1, 1912, in Fort Lauderdale to William and Stella Burney Wingate.

A year before her birth, the Wingates moved their family from a small northeast Florida town called Yulee to Fort Lauderdale, where William worked for the Florida East Coast Railroad, Horton said.

The family -- four girls and one boy -- grew up in Fort Lauderdale. Their father made boxcars and later went into the lumber, farming and real estate businesses.

Iris Wingate graduated from Central High School, which is now Fort Lauderdale High, her sister said.

Then, the school was at Southeast Second Street and Third Avenue.

After high school, she met and married Charles W. Cox. He worked for the Coast Guard and they traveled throughout the country, but Fort Lauderdale was always their home, Horton said.

In 1939, the Coxes purchased a brand-new house near the Rio Vista neighborhood.

''She loved people and having people around her,'' her sister said. ''She loved music and dancing.''

The couple had a son, James Cox, who was born with cerebral palsy, her sister said.

Iris Cox stayed home to care for her son. After her husband died in 1966, she began caring for ailing people at her house to help supplement her income.

Cox and Violet Woodhouse, a friend who also had a son with cerebral palsy, were the founders of two shelters for people with the disorder, her sister said.

The Woodhouse Homes, in Dania and Pompano Beach, still provide long-term care and training for severely mentally and physically disabled adults.

Cox also was a member of the First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale.

She was preceded in death by her son, who died at age 42 of cancer, her sister said.

In addition to her sister, Cox is survived by nieces Beverly Ann Horton and nephew William M. Horton, both of Fort Lauderdale; nieces Charlotte Estelle Doucet of Newport, Tenn., and Janie Wingate Rotan of Rochester, Mich.; nephew Gelon Earl Harrison of Key Largo; and cousins in Lake Harbor, Fla.

A graveside service will be at 11 a.m. Monday at the Forest Lawn Cemetery, 499 NE 27th Ave., Fort Lauderdale.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Fairchild Funeral Home in Fort Lauderdale.


Miami Herald, The (FL) - Sunday, June 29, 1997

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Iris Cox, a volunteer who helped found the Woodhouse homes for adults with cerebral palsy and mental retardation in Dania and Pompano Beach, died Friday at the Broward Convalescent Home after suffering congestive heart failure. Mrs. Cox, of Fort Lauderdale, was 85.

The homes were founded by Violet Woodhouse, a longtime Pompano Beach resident, whose son was stricken with cerebral palsy in infancy. Woodhouse wanted the homes to provide adults born with cerebral palsy or mental handicaps with a place to live, transportation, food and medical services after their parents died. Woodhouse died in 1988

Friends and family said Mrs. Cox was a charter member of the Woodhouse homes. She helped start the centers by raising money, grocery shopping and lending a hand whenever she was needed.

"She helped stuff envelopes till 2 a.m. to help raise money for the cause," said Beverly Horton, Mrs. Cox's sister. "Many years went into that. Iris was a very kind and generous person. She was the first to always offer to help. She was a hard-working person."

Woodhouse Cerebral Palsy Adult Home Inc. was founded in Dania in 1975 as the first private home in Broward County for adult victims of the ailment. There are 16 adults there, according to Florence Sindic, who also worked with Woodhouse to raise money to build the first home. The Woodhouse Inc. home in Pompano Beach was founded in 1983. It has 24 adult residents.

"What do you say about a volunteer who gives all their time, everything you want her to do?" Sindic said. "Iris Cox was a sweet lady. She did our errands. She was part of us."

Mrs. Cox had her reasons for wanting to help the group home projects. Her son, James, had suffered from cerebral palsy. He died in 1990.

"There comes a time [parents) are not going to be there forever," Horton said. "That's what they were working for."

Mrs. Cox is survived by her sister, Beverly, of Fort Lauderdale, and nieces and nephews.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Forest Lawn Cemetery, 499 NW 27 Ave. in Fort Lauderdale


South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) - Sunday, June 29, 1997