She was a fierce protector of Tsawwassen who spoke out on issues that shaped the community.
Leone Cox died peacefully at Delta Hospice on Saturday after having spent several weeks in Delta Hospital.
Cox is probably best known for her involvement in the Tsawwassen Homeowners Association, which was founded in the late 1980s in response to the proposed Tsawwassen Area Plan at the time. She helped form the group and was president for most of its existence.
The group was influential in thwarting the contentious Tsawwassen Development Lands housing application for the Southlands and boasted a membership of more than 1,700 at the height of the issue.
Cox was a board member of IDEA, the civic party that would take control of Delta council a year after the failed development bid and later helped form the TriDelta civic party after IDEA had turned down Lois Jackson’s request to join its ticket for the 1996 municipal election.
Jackson claimed a council seat under the TriDelta banner and three years later the slate took control of council with Jackson elected as mayor.
“She was a real community worker and advocate. She followed the municipal scene, and provincial and federal for that matter, very closely and felt very strongly about people being involved in their community,” said Jackson upon learning of Cox’s passing.
“She did a lot of good work. She was also on different committees. She was certainly not backward about coming forward to tell you what her opinions were.”
Cox was born in Los Angeles and grew up in California. She moved to London, England, where she met and married Douglas. They moved to Toronto in 1954 where she had a career in real estate before moving to Vancouver 20 years later where she continued her career. They settled in Tsawwassen in 1985.
One of her best friends told the Optimist Cox loved South Delta and felt strongly that its unique environment and lifestyle needed and deserved protection, adding she served her community and its residents well.
