Dr. Felicity Charlotte ‘Ann’ Cox passed peacefully at Errinrung Retirement Home in Thornbury on September 24, 2024, at the age of 89.
Loving mother to John Willett (Edel), Tim Willett (Louise), Jane Jaggs (Jimmy), Paul Willett (Devon), and beloved grandmother to Audrey Willett (Praveen), Ross Willett, Matt Willett (Ivana), Taylor Jaggs, and Sarah Jaggs. Ann was predeceased by her partner Vanda Kilpen (2019) and ex-husband David Willett (2022).
Ann was born on May 6, 1935, in St. Albans, UK, to parents Eileen and Gerald Cox. During WWII, she was evacuated from London to the countryside with thousands of other school children and spent the war years at a boarding school, which as an only child gave her the camaraderie she had always missed. She returned to London at the end of the war and attended St. Albans Girls School where she became inspired to study medicine. She achieved her A levels and attended university in London, where she qualified for medical school and became a medical doctor.
While Ann was a good student, she was also a keen athlete and played lacrosse for her school. She often said that her favourite school days were those in which there was either gym or games to participate in. She maintained this love of physical activity throughout her life and in later years could often be seen walking the Georgian Trail or around Thornbury harbour with her walking poles in hand and a smile on her face.
Upon her graduation from medical school, Ann met David Willett, who shared her dream of emigrating to Canada. She and David were married in 1960 and for their honeymoon travelled by steamship to Canada. Ann finished her medical residency in Montreal, after which she and David moved to Niagara Falls where she raised four children while maintaining a thriving medical practice. Ann was also active in the volunteer community and was instrumental in creating the first shelter for abused women in Niagara through her work with Niagara Women in Crisis.
After Ann and David divorced, she moved to Toronto and later to Thornbury to be with her partner Vanda and to continue her psychotherapy practice. Ann and Vanda spent a joyous 25 years together, skiing, travelling, playing tennis, gardening, and singing with the Sweet Adelines chorus.
Following Vanda’s passing in 2019, Ann enjoyed hiking with her friends, practising Tai Chi, book club meetings, and spending time with family including weekends at the farm in Kimberley, visiting family in Toronto and Campbell River B.C., and going on numerous vacations to visit her grandchildren in Australia.
Ann was a trailblazer in many ways with infectious joie de vivre. She will be greatly missed. Cremation has taken place and family and friends are invited to a celebration of Ann’s life on Friday, October 11, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. at the Marsh Street Centre, Clarksburg.
As your expression of sympathy, donations to the Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres would be appreciated and may be made through the Ferguson Funeral Home, 48 Boucher St. E., Meaford, ON, N4L 1B9, to whom arrangements have been entrusted. www.fergusonfuneralhomes.ca
