ST. PAUL — Joan Cox, 88, of St. Paul died 4 a.m. Friday, April 2, 2010, at Prairie Mission Retirement Village in St. Paul following an extended illness.

She was born Nov. 21, 1921, in Sycamore to Jesse Lee and Anna Louise (Neptune) Coates. In 1981 she married Clarence R. Cox in Erie. He preceded her in death on Feb. 7, 2010.

Joan worked as a secretary, medical records technician, social worker, an interviewer for the U.S. Census Bureau and Agricultural Department and wrote St. Paul news for three local newspapers for many years. She was a former member of the St. Paul School Board and Prairie Mission Retirement Village. She was a member of St. Francis Catholic Church in St. Paul.

Survivors include three daughters, Anna Helm of Portland, Ore., Marie Ericson of Sacramento, Calif., and Evelyn Alsup and her husband, Cleve, of Skiatook, Okla.; two stepsons, Fred Cox and his wife, Abbie, of Alma, Ark., Steve Cox and his wife, Candice, of Oklahoma City, Okla.; seven grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; and a sister, Ellen Henderson of Georgetown, Texas.

She was preceded in death by her husband; parents; a daughter, Iris Brewer; and a sister, Comfort Haverstick.

A graveside service will be 12:30 p.m. Thursday at Fort Scott National Cemetery with the Rev. Theodore Khin as celebrant. Friends may call from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today at Friskel Funeral Home in Frontenac.

Memorials are suggested to Prairie Mission Retirement Center in St. Paul and may be dropped off or mailed to the funeral home, 230 E. McKay, Frontenac, 66763.

Condolences may be left at friskelfuneralhome.com.