Obituary of Hayward Cox

Hayward Carlton Cox, age 89, passed away peacefully at his home in Barnesville, GA, on September 11, 2014. Born in Richmond, VA, July 18, 1925, he moved with his family to Atlanta as a teenager and completed his high school education at North Fulton High School. He then entered the U.S. Army in 1943, and served for two years overseas during World War II, retiring with the rank of Major in the Reserves in 1985. He graduated from Emory University in 1949 and attended Emory Graduate School in 1950. He was employed by The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States from 1951 until 1982, retiring as Agency Manager in Atlanta. He then became an Adjunct Professor of Meeting Management, Hotel Convention Sales and Service, and Tourism at the Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality Management at Georgia State University from 1983 to 1997. He also was a Professor of Meeting Management, Hotel Convention Sales and Service for three-month programs during 1993 to 1997 at both the Centre International de Glion, in Montreaux, Switzerland, and IMHI (Cornell University-ESSEC) in Cergy-Pontoise, France. He was a Life Member of Meeting Professionals International from 1980, having served three times as President of the Georgia Chapter and 10 years as a member of the International Board. He was a Chartered Life Underwriter, Certified Meeting Professional and Certified Hospitality Educator, and held honors as the Dean's Distinguished Lecturer at the Conrad Hilton College of Hospitality and Restaurants at the University of Houston in 1995 and the annual Hayward C. Cox, CMP Award for the person having given long-time valued service to the Georgia Chapter of MPI. In 1988 he and his wife Karen moved to Barnesville, where he was a Rotarian (past President), member of the Lamar County Historical Society (past President), Barnesville Chamber of Commerce (Board member) and Lamar Arts (Board member). In 2009 Hayward and Karen were honored as Barnesville-Lamar County Citizens of the Year. He was a member of St. George's Episcopal Church in Griffin, where he served on the Vestry for two terms and was a Lector for 25 years. In addition to his wife Karen Nelson Cox of 33 years, he leaves daughters Leslie Storey (Steve), Aimee Malik (Joe), sons Hayward C. Cox III and John Cox (Liz) and two granddaughters. Upon his death his body was donated to Emory Medical School. A memorial service will be held Wednesday, September 17 at 2 pm at St. George's Episcopal Church in Griffin, with a reception immediately following at his home in Barnesville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. George's Episcopal Church or Lamar Arts. Service Information