May 9 2020
Mary “Polly” Gessner Coxe May 9, 2020 Our beloved Aunt, Mary “Polly” Gessner Park Coxe, age 84, passed away peacefully May 9, 2020, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was born on June 17, 1935, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She married her longtime friend and love, Dr. William S. Coxe in August of 1984, who preceded her in death in 2012. Polly moved with her family to St. Louis in 1952 and graduated from Mary Institute in 1953. She attended Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History in 1957. Later, she received a Master’s of Fine Arts degree from Washington University. Polly spent a year teaching in England and traveling Europe on a Fulbright Fellowship. Upon returning to St. Louis, she taught for many years as a traveling art teacher for the St. Louis Public Schools. In the early 1980’s she directed the National Museum of Medical Quackery in St. Louis. She loved the St. Louis Art Museum, where she worked from 1988 to 1998 in the library and volunteered from 1987 to 2007. A love of the arts in St. Louis became Polly’s lifelong passion. She was devoted to the St. Louis Art Museum, the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and the Missouri Botanical Garden where she served on the Members’ Board. She volunteered with Oasis teaching young children to read, the Wednesday Club, and many other organizations. She spent hours walking in Forest Park and watching the seasons pass in her wonderful condominium that overlooked the park. Polly was preceded in death by her parents, Howard F. Park Jr, Mary Reed Gessner Park, and her brother the Rev. Howard F. (Helen survived) Park III. She is survived by her nieces and nephews, Howard F. Park IV, Catherine I. Park, Nathaniel C. (Kelly) Park and grandnieces Ellen and Caroline Park all of St. Louis, Missouri, Joseph W. (Barbara) Coxe, Margaret S. Coxe, and Anne Coxe Jones, of Virginia, and her devoted friends. She will be missed by all. Services: The date and time of a memorial service will be announced later. Memorial gifts may be made to Animal House, Cat Rescue, and Adoption Center, 2151 59th Street St. Louis, MO 63110 (Polly loved and adored cats) or The Saint Louis Art Museum’s Tribute Fund.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Mary Polly Gessner Coxe May 9 2020.
Death notice for the town of: University City, state: Missouri