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username: Post A Eulogy for my Beloved Wife Ann Cox Porter by Timothy L. Porter Monsignor Leonard, Fr. Brooks, Fr. MacFarland, Fr. O’Connor, Family, Friends. My heart is of course heavy today, and I know that many of yours are too, as I try to speak of Ann, whom we have all known and loved. But, thankfully, my heart is not heavy alone with sadness but also with the love and experience of our life together, a wonderfully intertwined life, which reflected, among other things, our several years as students in Greenwich Village during the 1970’s, the thirty years of our marriage, our postings and the friendships made in virtually every region of the country – in New York, Washington, DC, New Jersey, Chicago, San Francisco, and Atlanta, our explorations together of Europe, Central America, the Caribbean, Canada, and most recently Africa and a part of the Middle East, the related challenges and joys we experienced all over the world, and as importantly the inner personal journeys we experienced with others, like all of you, whose lives intersected with ours. Our shared life was rich, full and in so many ways shaped by Ann’s distinctly open, curious, intelligent, forthright, justice-loving, people oriented, spiritual, and selfless approach to everything and everyone she encountered. I am fortunate to have had so many years together, and, as the saying goes, it is difficult at times to say in some respects where she ended and I began and vice versa. But Ann was of course much more. She was a person of enormous substance, depth, spirit, and energy, whose abundant talents, optimism, and compassion, were throughout her life always used in service to others. In Memoriam Wellesley Alumnae Magazine, Spring 2007 A leader at Wellesley, Ann was the Vil Junior and President of Cazenove. She had a successful career as an educator – as an elementary school teacher, a writer and consultant, and a beloved mentor. Moving every few years as her husband Tim advanced in his career, she managed to raise two wonderful children, to create lovely homes, and to be a community activist in Washington, Atlanta, Chicago, Montclair, San Francisco, and New York. Passionate about social justice, she fought for educational reform and to improve the lives of people in the coal-mining communities of West Virginia. Although she traveled the world, she remained in many ways the girl from Prairie Village, Kansas – open-hearted, generous, forthright, with a ready laugh and a gift for deep and authentic connection. Ann's Environmental Activism In the last couple of years of her life, Ann became very concerned about and active in the effort to better the lives of people in West Virginia who have been affected by the mountaintop removal activities of some of the coal-mining companies. She went to West Virginia several times, saw firsthand the environmental destruction, learned of the health consequences, spoke with educators about the need for more schools in these communities, raised money for the effort, met with the governor of the state, and enlisted the support of teachers in New York. She was in this, as with anything that struck her as unfair and needing to be set right, passionate about helping out. For this reason, in lieu of flowers, the family suggests, for
anyone inquiring, that a contribution in Ann's name be made to
this effort. Contributions can be made to the Stanley Heirs
Foundation and sent to: Website Sponsors This website is sponsored by Ann's husband Tim Porter, her sisters Sue Chupek and Jan Harden, and the following friends: Barbara Butz
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Last update: January 19, 2009 |
This
site is dedicated to Ann Cox Porter. Ann Cox was born in Kansas
City, Missouri, on December 8, 1941. She graduated from Wellesley
College in 1964 and received an M.Ed. from the Bank Street School
in New York. She married Timothy Porter in 1976. Ann was an educator,
consultant, writer, mentor, and community activist, as well as
a loving wife and mother, a devoted sister, and an extraordinary
friend. She died on November 24, 2006, following a fall at her
home in Harlem. She is survived by her husband Tim, her daughter
Eve, her son Tim, her sisters Sue Cox Chupek of Shaker Heights,
Ohio, and Jan Cox Harden of Denver, Colorado, and her nephews
David and George. A memorial service for Ann was held in New York
City on December 2, 2006. Some of the tributes on this website
were read at this service. Family and friends are invited to add
photos, poems, memories, tributes, etc. on the 
