Celebrate Life: Marion (Mike) Ellison Cox

Jan. 11, 1945 — Sept. 10, 2024

It is with great sadness that we announce that on September 10th, 2024, Marion (Mike) Ellison Cox passed away at the age of 79 in Morgan Hill, California. He was a pioneer in science and engineering, a beloved figure in the community, and will be deeply missed by family and friends. Mike was born and raised in Eden, Texas, to parents George Milburn Cox and Frances Josephine Stuart in 1945.

There were many chapters in Mike’s life. He grew up in Eden, Texas, and learned the values of family, farming, and ingenuity. In high school, he had an early thirst for knowledge and volunteered at the local hospital, which set his scientific life in motion.

He continued his microbiology and business education in college and met his future wife, Mary Elizabeth Cox, nee Dau. They married in 1972 and moved to California in 1973.

Mike spent the last 51 years living in San Jose, Cupertino, Saratoga, and finally, Morgan Hill while continuing to give back to the community. For his philanthropic efforts, he was recognized as Morgan Hill Man of the Year in 2008 and for the Morgan Hill Leadership Excellence Award in 2013.

But more than the timeline of his life and the awards he received, Mike could make any gathering feel momentous and all parties welcomed. He led a lifetime of cooking, caring, educating, and bringing joy to all those around him.

Mike was truly an inspiration and made a tremendous impact on the world around him. He was an observer of nature and believed that by understanding our world from the smallest organisms (anaerobic bacteria) to the largest ecological problems (agriculture waste, invasive plants, damage of fossil fuels), he could find a way to help. Mike started his career in clinical microbiology and improved the treatment of anaerobic infections in the Texas prison system, in the Army at Fort Ord, and then at Stanford and O’Connor Hospitals. He founded his company, Anaerobe Systems, in his garage with Mary in 1978 to make the tools and products he realized were missing in his field.
Working as a medical microbiologist, Mike saw how much the lab and physicians struggled with anaerobic infections and invented new processes to culture and identify anaerobic bacteria.

To spread this knowledge, he set up anaerobic training workshops and included a home-cooked meal prepared by Chefs Mike and Mary, which was the highlight of the course.

For more than 30 years and four courses a year, hundreds of clinical microbiologists have learned better ways to identify and treat infectious agents.

He was a founding member of the Anaerobe Society of the Americas (ASA) in 1992, and in 2014, he received the ASA Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also been recognized for his contribution to science by having a bacteria named after him, Peptoniphilus coxii. When Mike was awarded Leadership Morgan Hill’s ‘Lead’ award, everyone learned how to pronounce this bacteria through the humorous song written by his friend Mike Winthrow.

Mike Cox was passionate about his microbiology company, Anaerobe Systems, and his newly formed sustainability company, Anaerobe Energy, because of their potential to help people.

He loved his family of employees, friends, colleagues, and immediate family. Mike loved to have fun and to learn and always seemed to have a book to give everyone. He was a huge proponent of education and building others up, mentoring countless summer interns and youth in the community. He was a giant of a man and left us too soon.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Cox; his son and daughter-in-law, Steven (Steve) and Stacy Cox; his daughter and son-in-law, Laura (Laurie) Cox and Viacheslav (Slavik) Sheremirov; his two grandchildren, Connor and Chloe Cox; and his sister, Helen Cox Driskill.

To his family, he will be remembered for all of their adventures with Mike in camping, cooking, and community, as well as creating an intense spark of interest in science, engineering, and improving the world.

A celebration of life will be held at Guglielmo Winery at 11 a.m., Sunday, Sept. 22.

For more information about Mike’s celebration of life, please visit: www.online-tribute.com/MikeCox.