June Read Cox

June R. Cox, 99, passed away on July 26, 2019 at Waterford on Cooper in Arlington, TX. Funeral Service: 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, July 31, 2019, 1200 W. Green Oaks Blvd., Arlington. Interment: Shannon Rose Hill Memorial Park, Fort Worth. Memorials: Donations in June's name may be made to the Family Pathfinders of Tarrant County or Trinity United Methodist Church. Ms. Cox was born December 30, 1919, in Fairfax, Minnesota, to the late William and Julia Read. Because her mother died at an early age, she lived with various members of her family until she graduated from high school in Covington, Indiana. She earned a BS degree from Indiana State University and a MS from the University of Illinois. Later, she specialized in the education of gifted children. She enjoyed a long and varied career in education, including teaching from the primary grades to graduate courses in college. While serving with the Illinois Department of Education, she was offered a position as Assistant Superintendent of the Cook County, Illinois schools. That job took her to Chicago, where she lived until 1973, when she moved to Dallas to work with the Gifted Students Institute. She was appointed director in 1974 and continued with the Institute until her retirement in 1992. During that time she founded the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented and sponsored summer programs for gifted students in the US, Mexico, Canada, and England. While at the Institute, she also served four years as Director of Research for the Sid Richardson Foundation where she conducted a national study of educational programs for high ability students at the elementary and secondary levels. A book, EDUCATING ABLE LEARNERS, written in cooperation with the late Dr. Neal Daniel and Bruce Boston, reported the results of the study and was widely read by educators throughout this country and others. Her other publications included FLEXIBLE PACING FOR ABLE LEARNERS, also with Dr. Daniel, and numerous articles focusing on the education of gifted children. Ms. Cox retired from the Institute and Texas Woman's University in 1992. She had prepared for retirement by selecting several volunteer activities, including the Laubach Literacy Program, English as a Second Language, Cancer Care, Stephen Ministry, and Family Pathfinders. She continued to work with that program for more than ten years, leading a team from Trinity United Methodist Church where she was a longtime member. She also chaired a committee at TUMC to establish the church's endowment fund. Volunteering to tutor, a Chinese man who was working on his master's degree at UTA, led to a life changing experience for both of them. When he tried to bring his wife and eight year old daughter because of his low income. June agreed to sponsor the child, and he was finally able to reunite his family. Gradually they became a treasured part of her family. June Cox was preceded in death by her parents; sister, Gloria Inez; brothers, Joseph, James, Delmar, Ralph and Ted; daughter, Joanne Keller; son-in-law, Phil Koehn; and grandson, Scott Harrington. Survivors: Daughters, Barbara Koehn and Karen Adams and husband, John; and several grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. Wade Family Funeral Home & Cemetery 817-274-9233