Margaret Rita Cox

Margaret Rita “Rita” (nee: McGuane) Cox, age 94, passed away peacefully on February 26, 2026.  Rita was predeceased by her beloved husband John P. Cox.  Devoted and proud mother of retired United States Federal District Court Chief Judge Sean F. (Janine) Cox, Wayne Circuit Court Judge Kevin J. (Elizabeth) Cox, and Michael A. (Laura) Cox.  Loving Gran to Lindsey (Todd) Sanford, John (Nirupama) Cox, Wayne Circuit Court Judge Kiefer (Rhonda Haidar) Cox, Caitlin (Arthur) Laystrom, Dr. Katherine Cox, Brendan Cox, Jack (Ana) Cox, Clare (Zachary) Nowak, Sinead Cox, Patrick Cox, Conor Cox, Brian Cox, and LTJG Rory Cox, USN.  Loving great grandmother of Grace Boyle, Savanna Sanford, Arthur “Cal” Laystrom IV, Jack Laystrom and Ava Nowak. 

She is also survived by her remaining sister, Sister Catherine McGuane, who is a member of the Sisters of St John of God in Perth, Australia. 

Visitation is on Wednesday March 4, 2026, at 11 AM until the Funeral Mass at 12 Noon  at St. Kenneth Catholic Church ,14951 North Haggerty Road, Plymouth, Michigan.  

Please no flowers.  If so inclined, please donate online to Detroit Christo Rey High School, detroitcristorey.org, or Most Holy Trinity Grade School, mhtacademy.org, or Detroit Catholic Central High School, catholiccentral.net.

Rita’s story is a story of a great woman and mom. She was born on a small farm in a rocky and remote area of West Ireland in County Clare on January 5, 1932.  Her grandchildren were fascinated that her farm was so remote it could not be found on Google Maps.

Her father died in 1940 from lung disease, which likely originated from the years he spent in British detention camps for belonging to the Irish Republican Brotherhood (later known as the IRA) for Irish Independence.  His death left 8- year-old Rita and her 9-year-old sister Bea (Bridget) to help their mom raise 4 younger siblings.

As Rita used to say, they “never wanted for anything” but they had nothing. No electricity, plumbing, or automobile.  For drinking water, Rita or her one of her siblings walked down the hill to a spring.  They walked across the overgrown fields a mile and a half away to attend a little one-room schoolhouse where all ages were taught.   

It was the Depression and then World War II in a country that was the poorest in Europe, so Rita learned early and often that life is a constant struggle. She also learned that hard work and hard prayer were the answers to that struggle. It was an unrelenting struggle. At the same time until Rita’s dying day she would get mad at anyone who thought she was poor because she always had family and food on the table from the farm.

She immigrated to America at 18 with her sister Bea in 1951. She was sponsored by an uncle in Detroit, who was, of course, a Detroit cop. She and Bea did not have any skills except the ability to work harder than anyone else. They worked as domestics and then waitresses at Stouffers. My mom “married well” because she married John Cox who was a carpenter. And, as they said in the old country “he is a worker”.  They were married 68 years.

They moved to Redford in 1956 because it was cheaper to buy a house in Redford than on the west side of Detroit. Rita thought her family’s 1,000 square foot house was a mansion. And she kept it like a museum, clean as a whistle, and so proud to have it.

Rita and her husband John were not huggers or the type to say, “I love you”. They were hard people who were created by hard times and hard places.  But by their daily acts and example, they showed their love for their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.  Even when Rita broke out the belt or wooden spoon, or occasionally, a broom, to discipline her boys, they knew she did it out love.   

Rita made her children work early because that was the life she knew. Cutting neighbors’ lawns at ages 8 and 9, paper routes at 10 and 11, working with one of their uncles painting at 14, and so on. She would not let her sons use the money they earned on cars or anything she considered frivolous.  Instead, she made them pay their own tuition to a Catholic high school to force them to see education as the way to get ahead.

Over the past several decades, she had a huge impact on her sons, their wives, and her 13 grandchildren.  From her hugs (she began hugging after she got her boys into adulthood) to her sourdough grilled cheese sandwiches for her grandkids to her occasional fiery outbursts of temper (where her accent comes back) to classic old country sayings (“Michael, you have to make hay while the sun is shining”) she shaped her family with her example of love in action.

She lived her Catholic faith from the day of her baptism until the day of her death.  She pushed her children and grandchildren to live the Catholic faith and taught them there was no greater vocation than to serve others. With her encouragement, many of her children and grandchildren served our Nation as Marines, soldiers, and sailors, and served our local community as police officers, prosecutors, medical professionals and judges. 

While never famous or celebrated, she was an extraordinary lady with the heart of a lion and an endless capacity to love her family.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Margaret Rita Cox, please visit our floral store.