Phyllis Cox

Gaffney, SC - - Phyllis Greene Cox, 85, of 116 Robinhood Drive, went home to be with the Lord on Sunday, June 7, 2026 at Spartanburg Medical Center.

Phyllis was born in Charlotte, NC and moved to Forest City where she grew up. She was the daughter of the late Bruce & Vivian Watkins Greene.

She was a 1959 graduate of Cool Springs High School and graduated from Limestone College with a B. A. in Studio Art and received her Masters of Arts in Education from the University of South Carolina. Her ties to Gaffney began early on when she attended Limestone College, was crowned Miss Gaffney, and represented the town in the Miss South Carolina pageant. Upon marrying her husband of 50 years, Andy Cox, she moved to Gaffney and began teaching art at Cowpens Junior High School and then Broome High School.

She taught art in a private school in Columbia for two years before returning to the Upstate to teach in Spartanburg School District 3 where she stayed until retirement. Phyllis was one of the first Art teachers in the State to offer AP art courses. Students in the Broome Art program won numerous awards each year in art competitions at every level; local, regional, State, National and International.

While at Broome High School, Phyllis was South Carolina’s Art Teacher of the Year. She was also awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from Limestone College. As a professional exhibiting artist, Phyllis won numerous awards in juried art exhibitions. Because of her record of personal and student exhibition successes, she was 1 of 25 artists invited to the Ford Motor Company Creative Design Center to present their work and discuss the art’s theories. She was a member of the Spartanburg Artists Guild and a charter member of CAVA.

Phyllis had a passion for teaching young people: from Sunday school classes for high school girls to Art in the Spartanburg County School System.

Surviving in addition to her husband, James Andrew “Andy” Cox, is a daughter, Mitzi Beason Lewis (Gary) of Charlotte, NC; two granddaughters, McKenzie Lewis and Sophie Lewis; two sisters, Beth Wheeler (Tommy) of Forest City, NC and Vicki Simmons (Steve) of New Bern, NC; and four nephews.

The family will receive friends from 12:30PM until 1:30PM on Sunday, June 14, 2026 at Blakely Funeral Home. Graveside services will be private for the family, officiated by Reverend Hatcher Geary.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to: The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Upstate South Carolina Affiliate, 225 S. Pleasantburg Drive, Unit C3, Greenville, SC 29607.

The family will be at their respective homes.

An online guest register is available at www.blakelyfuneralhome.com

Blakely Funeral Home & Crematory, Gaffney, SC