Darliss Cox

Darliss R. Cox, age 83, Beardsley, MN, passed away Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at the Ortonville Area Hospital in Ortonville, MN.

Mass of Christian Burial will be Monday, May 5, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Browns Valley with Fr. John Paul Knopik officiating.  Music will be provided by organist Cindy Marohl and vocalists Sue Sykora and Kelsey Holtz.

Burial will be in the St. Mary's Cemetery, Beardsley.  Urn bearers will be her sons, Gene, Daniel, David, and Randy Cox.

Visitation with a Time of Sharing will be Monday from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the church.

Darliss Rose (Peters) Cox, the fourth child of eight, was born to Leonard and Clara (Kern) Peters on August 4, 1941, in Nassau, MN.  She attended school in Nassau, then Marietta, MN. She was selected as the Girl Stater her Junior year.

She married the love of her life, Nelson Cox, on September 27, 1958.  They welcomed seven children to their family, living in rural Milbank, the Twin Cities, near Graceville, back to Milbank, rural Beardsley, eventually south of Beardsley, retiring along Big Stone Lake.

In Darliss' younger years, they raised their two girls and five boys, had a large garden, many chickens, pigs, and milk cows.  Once the youngest son was four, Darliss worked with HeadStart in Graceville, then Beardsley.  Darliss got her GED once all the kids were in school.  She was employed in Ortonville as a cook at the nursing home and as a clerk at Valu Variety.  Darliss worked at the Beardsley School as a title teacher for several years once her youngest child graduated high school.

Darliss loved her sweets and was an awesome cook and baker.  She did a lot of canning or freezing garden produce and just enjoyed the company and phone conversations with dear friend Shirley.  Darliss was a master at sewing, making the kids and grandkids many shirts and dresses.  Darliss crocheted many stocking hats and scarves, gaining this skill from her mother-in-law and her father.  Nelsie and Darliss packed up the kids many summer weekends, relaxing and getting away camping at the County Park.  A good card game was always welcomed and usually involved digging out your change to play.

Once Nelsie retired, they enjoyed going to Arizona for a few months in the winter.  Darliss liked a good slot machine to entertain her and playing cards on her computer.  In 2009, Darliss was diagnosed with breast cancer.  With the help of her strong faith in God, she was a fierce fighter to every single obstacle that came along over the years, including metastasizing to her bones.  Darliss kept a calendar and made copies for each kid, yearly updating the births and weddings as her family grew.  Darliss looked forward to one-on-one conversations and visits from her kids and grandkids.  She spent many hours quilting with friends, then switched to crocheting lap blankets, making sure everyone got one.

Darliss is survived by her husband of 66 years, Nelsie; her sons, Gene (Lisa) Cox, Daniel Cox, David Cox, and Randy Cox; daughters, Barbara Cox, and Karen (Dareld) Klemm; grandchildren, Nicole (Jared Klein) Cox, Gavin Klemm, Kelly (Erin) Klemm, Kendra (Nick) Digre, Taylor (Kelsey) Cox, Justin (Piper) Cox, Chelsea Bell, Crystal Becker, and Jeffrey (Karen) Becker Jr.; step grandchildren, Angie Schultz and Darin Doschadis; great-grandchildren, Layla Berger, Jackson Klein, Porter, Griffin and Hayden Klemm, Ava, Bentley and Drake Cox, Adalynn Sterling, Weston, Paisley and Colt Digre, Steven, Zander and Christopher Becker, Dyllon and Chase Thieschefer, and Henry and Jillian Froemming.

She is also survived by her siblings, Marilyn Ketchum and Jim Peters; sisters and brothers-in-laws, Ray Cox, Kathy Herberg, Kitty Ness, Hazel Findlay and Dorothy Jorgenson; plus many step great-grandkids, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Darliss was preceded in death by her son, Michael; grandson, Christopher; daughter-in-law, Kathy; along with her parents, Leonard and Clara; siblings, Leonard Jr., Arlan, Thomas and Joseph Peters; Luella Randelman; in-laws, Neal and Hatti Cox; and sisters-in-law, Marge Prodahl and Edna Konald.