Fox & Weeks is privileged to serve the family and loved ones of Ida Frances Cottingham Traxler (Becky), age 89, who died on April 13 in Savannah, Georgia. She was predeceased by her husband of fifty-five years, Dr. Ralph Traxler, Jr., her only daughter, Julie Traxler, and by her brothers, William Hathaway, Henry Hathaway and Jesse Cottingham. She was born in Savannah, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Liston Cottingham, and graduated from Savannah High and Armstrong Junior College before graduating from Mercer with high honors. After her marriage she lived with her academic husband in Chicago, Florida, Decatur (Emory), Mobile, Oklahoma, and Missouri, where he served as Professor and Dean. In her fifties, she received the first degree in gerontology granted by the State of Missouri. When they moved to Savannah in 1982, she received a masters from Armstrong. For ten years she directed a training program for older workers. During that time she received eight certificates from Oxford University for summer work during which she studied the ways in which Britain cares for its elderly. Always active in volunteer work, she received a key to the City of Mobile for her work in helping build a neighborhood center for elderly women to quilt and sell their work, as well as for leadership in other cultural and patriotic groups. While serving as Regent of the dIberville Chapter of the DAR, she helped found the Richards DAR Historic House in Mobile. In Savannah she served on the Boards of the Savannah Widows Society and the Huntingdon Guild. She was a member of the Savannah Chapter DAR and the Chi Omega Alumnae. At Emory and the University of South Alabama she helped found chapters of Chi Omega. As a consulting gerontologist, she organized a Savannah Parkinsons Support Group in 1983 and served on the Advisory Board that organized MedBank. She recently published her brother Henry Hathaways autobiographical war novel and an art book on her daughter Julies life and work. Surviving are her son Ralph III and his wife Niki of Atlanta, her sister-in-law Carolyn Traxler, nieces Shannon Cottingham Hecklinger and Suzanna Cottingham Roberts, several other nieces and nephews and her close friends, the James Sellers family. Visitation will be held at the Fox & Weeks Islands Chapel from 4-6 pm on May 6 followed at a later date by a private interment. The family requests that donations be made to the Julie Traxler Fund, c/o Patti Corcelli in Eureka Springs, Arkansas or the First Baptist Church, Savannah. Please click the link to send flowers and sign the online guest book.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 21:10:30 +0000