After a long struggle with complications from autoimmune disease and a rare form of dementia known as frontotemporal lobar degeneration, which cut his life short at the age of 66, Paul Cox died peacefully on the morning of May 8 in San Antonio surrounded by his large and loving family. He was a well-known figure in Texas horticulture, and a botanist deeply fascinated by plant life. Always a gentle person, he was an endlessly proud father, loving husband and supportive friend.
Born on September 16, 1952, Paul grew up in Dallas, where a high-school job at the Heard Museum fostered his lifelong interest in the natural sciences and led to his earning both his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Botany from Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches. He was recruited to San Antonio by the San Antonio Botanical Garden and had a long and professionally satisfying career there over the next 32 years in a range of capacities before he retired in 2009. A co-author of “Texas Trees: A Friendly Guide,” which has been a popular reference book for more than 30 years and is now in its sixth printing, Paul published and edited numerous articles and books on a variety of gardening and horticultural topics.
Always experimental, he named and released a number of new plant introductions of which he was very proud. He also built a replica East Texas garden area at the botanical garden, assembling a diverse plant collection and educating hundreds of school groups. He traveled to Japan as a guest of the Japanese government to learn Japanese gardening techniques, which he found intriguing. He was also known for his collaborations locally, working with the San Antonio Water System and the Master Gardeners to build the first xeriscape and children’s gardens at the San Antonio Botanical Garden. Above all, his special sense of humor and fun-loving delight in trivia helped many visitors of all ages develop an appreciation for botany and the natural world.
He is survived by his wife, Michelle Cox, and children, Amy Jurewicz, Audrey Harig (JR Harig), Byron Cox, William Cox, Laurel Cox, Crystal Cox, and four grandchildren, in addition to his mother, Doris, who lives in Blanco, and his brother, Robert Cox II, and his wife, Nickie, and his sister, Melissa Wolf, and her husband, Wayne, all of Wimberly, and in-laws Tom and Sylvia Tarrillion. He was preceded in death by his father, Robert J. Cox of Rosedale, Indiana.
In keeping with his love of science, he requested his body be donated to UT Health, where his brain will be used to further research at the new brain bank at the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Disease. There will be a memorial service to celebrate his life on June 15, 2019 at 10 a.m. at the Auld House at the Botanical Garden at 555 Funston Place. Gifts in his memory may be made in lieu of flowers to the San Antonio Botanical Garden.