Tucson, Arizona - JoEllen (Dunbar) Cox, 78, passed away on July 8, 2026 at her home in the Catalina Foothills in Arizona. Born November 21, 1947 to Alfred Wayne Dunbar and Alice Joan (Ellis) Dunbar, JoEllen grew up in Kokomo, Indiana and graduated from Western High School. She attended Purdue University where she met her husband Edward J. Cox (1942 - 1998). In 1970 she graduated from Purdue's College of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education with a Bachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Therapy. JoEllen moved to Brownsburg Indiana where she and Ed raised their daughter and were members of St. Malachy Catholic Church. JoEllen worked as a school speech therapist and later as a substitute teacher for many years in the Brownsburg school system. For several decades JoEllen never missed a Purdue home football game and later moved to West Lafayette, Indiana to be near her grandchildren. She was an active member of the Wabash Area Lifelong Learning Association (WALLA) before moving to Chicago and then to Arizona with her daughter's family. Until her last days JoEllen maintained a bright mind, which she kept active by studying French and playing sudoku in her desert casita and garden patio.

JoEllen is survived by her daughter, Jenna Rickus (husband George Rickus); her grandchildren, Lauren Rickus and George EJ Rickus; her brothers, John Dunbar, Terence Dunbar (wife Vinya Dunbar), and Brian Dunbar (wife Nancy Dunbar); and nieces and nephews Stephanie Wilson, Misty Wert (husband Matthew), Kevin Dunbar (wife Leticia), Olivia Ishanpara (husband Roshan), and Zoe Thornbury (husband Alex).

JoEllen will be buried by her husband, Ed, in Brownsburg, Indiana following a private family ceremony. If you wish to honor JoEllen, in lieu of flowers, we recommend a donation to Purdue University in her memory.