April 25, 1941 - December 18, 2006

Mary Griffith Cox, wife of folk musician and actor Ronny Cox, died Dec. 18, 2006, at the age of 65, at Tarzana/Encino Hospital it was announced today. The cause of death was lung cancer.

She was born Mary Lee Griffith on Aug. 25, 1941, in Elk Horn, Iowa. Her family moved to Portales, New Mexico, in 1952, where she attended public schools. She took a BS degree from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, majoring in chemistry.

She studied organic chemistry at Georgetown University, receiving her PhD there. For several years she did research at the Sloan-Kettering Institute in Rye, New York.

She was married to the actor and musician Ronny Cox; and parents of two sons, Brian and John.

The family moved to Sherman Oaks, California, in 1972, where they have lived ever since.

She is survived by her husband and two sons; by her granddaughter Catherine; by her sisters Joyce Hansen of Elk Horn, Iowa; Alice Hansen of Mesa, Arizona; Kathryn Carol McNair of Ashland, Oregon; and Jane Wittrup of Albuquerque, New Mexico; by her two brothers, John Griffith of Seattle, Washington, and Gene Griffith of Sonoma, California; and by numerous nieces and nephews.

She was a woman of many interests. In addition to her expertise in the sciences, she was widely read in several historical areas. She enjoyed bird-watching, needlepoint and running. She was a valued member of a wide-spread community of folk-singers.