Cora English Cogdell, 81, a federal retiree, passed away Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010. Funeral: 10 a.m. Saturday at Granbury First United Methodist Church. Interment Holly Hills Memorial Park. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Wiley Funeral Home. Mrs. Cogdell was born in the East Texas town of Grapeland to Emory and Annie Lou Brown Chambers on June 7, 1929. In 1942, she moved with her family to Fort Worth, where she graduated from Birdville High School. She attended Brantley-Draughan Business College in Fort Worth. She was a member of St. Luke's United Methodist Church, then a charter member of Richland Hills United Methodist Church until 1971, when she moved to Dallas. She was employed by the U.S. Public Health Service from 1949 until 1971, transferring to the Federal Bureau of Prisons when that agency assumed control of the USPHS hospital. She was employed at the BOP South Central Regional Office, Dallas, until her retirement in December 1983. She and her husband then moved to the Yakima Valley in Washington state, where they resided for five years, returning to Texas to spend their final retirement years in Granbury. Mrs. Cogdell was a member of Waples United Methodist Church in Granbury, and since 1990 a member of Granbury First United Methodist Church. She was a member of the Nan Wright Circle of United Methodist Women and a member of the Chapel Sunday School Class. She was also active in the National Assn. of Retired Federal Employees and the Federal Prisons Retirees Association. Her retirement years were filled with service to her church, playing bridge, gardening, traveling with her husband and spending time with her children, grandchildren and extended family. She was preceded in death by her parents; beloved husband, Jim; brothers, Claude and Lee Chambers; and sister, Ruth Collins. Survivors: Sons, William "Bill" English and David English and wife, Susan; stepsons, Zane Cogdell and wife, Darcy, and Leslie Cogdell and wife, Virginia; goddaughter, Holly Bean; five grandsons; five granddaughters; brother, William Chambers and wife, Dorothy; beloved sisters-in-law, Norma Chambers, Dorothy Mueller, Theresa Wiggins and Katrina Walsh; brother-in-law, John Collins and wife, Betty; special cousin, Madeline Garrison; special friend, Joanne Kilian; and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Published in Star-Telegram on October 15, 2010