Carol Cox Shannon

Carol Cox Shannon, 85, of Bowie, Maryland, passed away of heart failure on Friday, August 11, 2023. She was born to Clayton and Alene Cox on April 30, 1938 in Asheboro, NC. She was the oldest of 3 children, and as a young person she enjoyed reading, playing piano, and participating in church activities. She also played Varsity basketball for Westfield High School and was co-valedictorian of her class of 1956. After graduation, she attended 1 year of secretarial school at Elon College and then moved to Baltimore, MD to live and work in the big city. While riding the bus back home to visit her family, she met her future husband when he asked if the seat next to her was taken. They were married 6 months later in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

The couple started their family and then moved to Huntsville, Alabama; Phoenix, Arizona and then back East to Bowie, Maryland. Carol was an active member of Grace Baptist Church from 1967 on, serving as church secretary, teaching Sunday School, singing in the choir, and working in the AWANA program as a Sparks director and a leader in the Amigos program for students with special needs. She also faithfully served in the nursing home ministry. She supported her daughters as a Girl Scout leader for several years, and was a member of the Jaycee Wives Club and Beta Sigma Phi sorority, where she earned recognition as Woman of the Year in 1984-85. She was employed by the Prince George’s County Public School system for the next 20 years, serving as secretary at Yorktown, Samuel Ogle, and Perrywood Elementary Schools until her retirement.

She was preceded in death by her brother Jerry C. Cox (1944), parents, Clayton Fields Cox (1988), Phoebe Alene Cox (2008), and grandson Daniel L. Lenhart (2020).

She is survived by her husband Lincoln Earl Shannon, brother Teddy F. Cox (Frances), daughter Teresa M. Owen (Wayland, Jr.), son Kenneth M. Shannon (Audrey), daughter Linda E. Wolfson (Robert), daughter Megan E. Redmond (Daniel), and by children’s former spouses Ramona Davis and Steven Lenhart, 10 other grandchildren (Elizabeth, Lindsay, Patrick, Laith, Zachary, Amanda, Jonathan, Aleyse, Brandon & Clayton), and 11 great grandchildren with one more on the way.

A service celebrating Carol’s life will be held on Saturday, August 26, 2023 at 11:00 am at Grace Baptist Church in Bowie, MD. In lieu of flowers, any memorial gifts can go to the American Heart Association or Hospice of the Chesapeake