A Jury of Her Peers

Shirley Cox of Catholic Charities Honored by Oklahoma Bar Association With "Outstanding Service to the Public" Award

By Ray Dyer
The Sooner Catholic

OKLAHOMA CITY — If Shirley Cox were queen for a day she knows exactly what she would do to improve Oklahoma. It has to do with the state’s infrastructure. Not traditional infrastructure- roads, water and sewer lines- not that those aren’t important, but what Cox is referring to is the caring and compassionate infrastructure that helps people improve their lives and by doing so helps improve the lives of everyone. The kind of infrastructure that helps lift people up. The kind of infrastructure Oklahoma so desperately needs if it hopes to raise things like its below national average per capita income while at the same time lowering things such as its above national average teen pregnancy rate. The kind of infrastructure Cox envisions would deliver things such as quality health care for all, transportation that makes it possible for families to earn a living without the expense of two automobiles. Her infrastructure priorities are about quality education, the kind that challenges and prepares people with skills and the ability to think critically in a changing economic environment. The kind of education that helps fill college dorm rooms rather than prison cell blocks. It’s about affordable and quality housing. These are the kinds of infrastructure improvements Cox would make if she were somehow made queen for a day.

But she’s not queen for a day and she knows she won’t be. And that’s okay. She is still willing to get into the ring and go toe-to-toe with the power brokers who she sees as preferring the protection of the status quo rather than the well being of the people. For her courage and tenacity Cox was recently recognized by her peers, members of the Oklahoma Bar Association.

At a recent statewide gathering of the OBA, Cox was awarded the “Outstanding Service to the Public Award.” The director of Social Action for Catholic Charities, Cox said her desire to help people stems from her Catholic faith and from the “immigrant culture” in which she was raised.  

“My parents came to the United States from England,” she said. Cox said the “immigrant culture” is one that requires assistance. The willingness to help provide that assistance is exactly why Cox was honored by the Oklahoma Bar.

In his letter nominating her for the award, Tim O’Connor, director of Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, told a story of how in 1997, Cox went above and beyond the call of duty to help elderly Vietnamese women who had come to the United States. The women were among thousands across the nation who were faced with losing medical benefits after Congress passed welfare legislation. The move would cut off disability benefits to 500,000 elderly and disabled throughout the nation.

Cox escorted the women to then Gov. Frank Keating’s office. The governor had a policy of meeting with members of the public in his office after 4 p.m. Cox waited with the women until 8:15 p.m. when it was finally their turn to meet with Gov. Keating. When Gov. Keating entered the room “Shirley asked the governor to look around him,” O’Connor said in his letter. “The people he saw were directly affected by welfare reform,” she told the governor. “The visual impact of the 30 elderly, disabled Vietnamese immigrants was effective,” the letter said.  Gov. Keating instructed his staff to contact Oklahoma’s Congressional delegation and urge them to restore the benefits to immigrants who entered the United States before passage of the welfare law.

“The Balanced Budget bill, later passed by Congress, restored the vital benefits to elderly and disabled immigrants,” O’Connor said in his nomination letter.

Answering the Door

While the idea of helping immigrants or any other person marginalized by society has always been the fabric that made Shirley Cox who she is, tackling such mountains wasn’t always her first priority. Before joining Catholic Charities, Cox was a successful attorney in private practice. So highly regarded was her ability, two major corporations hired her to defend them against multi-million dollar lawsuits. Successful in both, Cox seemed destined to climb the corporate ladder and claim her fair share of the American Dream. But something was missing. As Cox puts it: “There are plenty of people who will defend $50 million lawsuits.”

In 1985 Cox joined the Board of Directors at Catholic Charities. She became very involved in the plight of the less fortunate and especially the immigrant population. She  was instrumental in creating  the first-ever Immigration Assistance Program of Catholic Charities. So knowledgeable and passionate about the program was Cox, that she was offered the director’s position.  Although a bit hesitant to give up the corporate security, she accepted and agreed to go to Guatemala to be immersed in the Spanish language. Shortly after arriving in Guatemala, doubts surfaced and Cox resigned from the position. She returned to the U.S. and prepared to again begin a life as a corporate attorney.

The  person who replaced her as director of the newly created Immigration Assistance Program at Catholic Charities left after only three months on the job. The program Cox helped create was suddenly abandoned. Could it survive?

“I think this was God giving me a second chance,” Cox said, when again she was offered the position by O’Connor. “You only hear those knocks on your heart so many times,” she said. This time she jumped in with both feet and has never looked back.

Cox said she did it because she gets more satisfaction “working for people who live on the margins of society” than from anything she’s ever done before.

A Balancing Act

The ministry Shirley Cox performs as part of the Catholic Charities team requires the skill of a trapeze artist. She is constantly in the halls of the state Capitol looking for the right opening to propose or oppose ideas and legislation she believes could impact the least fortunate among us. She deals equally with Democrats and Republicans and at times finds those of her own faith can present some of the toughest challenges. This is  especially true when a Catholic is focused on one issue. Usually it’s either abortion or the death penalty.

“Abortion versus the death penalty is the toughest issue,” she said. People are passionate about both and rightfully so. In her eyes, Cox sees any violence against human beings as wrong. “Any violence against human persons does not create dignity,” she said. The day human dignity is made a priority in the lives and hearts of all people is when Cox knows abortion, the death penalty, assisted suicide and in general discrimination and violence against all human beings, born and unborn, will end. Until that day she must hold “creative tension” in her hands.

It’s a talent few have, but fortunately for many, Shirley Cox does it