BURLINGTON, Vt. — Elizabeth Ann (Margot) Chaffee Cox, 84, died July 9, 2010, in a Burlington nursing home. She was a longtime resident of Peterborough.

She was born in Mineola, N.Y., on Oct. 13, 1925, to William J. and Lillian Graham Margot. She was preceded in death by her parents, brothers William and Graham Margot, and her husband, Preston Allen Cox.

Mrs. Cox graduated from SUNY and Columbia Teachers College with degrees in education (Latin and English), and took classes in library science (Simmons College) and English as a Second Language (University of New Hampshire).

She taught high school in New York, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, South Dakota and Vermont. From 1963 to 1979, she and her husband owned Cox Real Estate in Vermont. For the rest of her life, Mrs. Cox returned to teaching, first as the Adult Tutorial Program Coordinator at Keene State College, then as a GED instructor and volunteer ESL tutor to students from around the world.

Mrs. Cox was a member of the first Vermont Human Rights Commission, the Unsung Heroine of the Year (N.H. Commission on the Status of Women), and co-founder of the Cheshire County Literacy Coalition. The Betty Cox Literacy Award is given annually at the Keene alternative diploma graduation.

Mrs. Cox is survived by her daughters, Margot Cox of Temple, Texas, and Sally O’Donnell of Vergennes, Vt.; and grandchildren Adam Robarge of Jeffersonville, Vt., Clifford Robarge Jr. of Starksboro, Vt., and Melanie Cox-Bittner of Temple, Texas.

No services are planned. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Mrs. Cox’s name to Keene School District Community Education Scholarship Fund, 171 West St., Keene 03431.