Edwin Elton Cox (9/17/1907-5/23/1958) was born in Santa Ana, California. He was the youngest of Amos and Christiane Cox’s four children. His grandfather and grandmother, Edwin and Mary Cox came to southern California in 1893 and lived in Santa Ana for many years. Young Edwin graduated from Santa Ana Polytechnic High School, where he played basketball, he also attended UCLA. By 1930 the census shows him living with his parents in the hotel his father managed.
Edwin married Leola Lucille Koehler on September 27, 1930, in Los Angeles, California. Leola (1/22/1907-9/7/1970) was born in Macedonia, Iowa. Both were 23 years old. They met in San Jacinto, California where she graduated from San Jacinto High School. She moved to Santa Ana where she lived with her sister and brother-in-law, Kenneth and Olga Cawthon. She was working for the Telephone Company in Santa Ana when they married. They made their home in Huntington Park where he was an Accountant for Smart and Final Wholesale Grocery Company.
In 1/2/1936, Edwin became partner/proprietor of Preston & Cox Market, later named Tustin Food Center at D and Main Streets, in partnership with Charles Preston who operated the meat department. Leola also worked in the market.
Edwin and Leola Cox purchased the building on September 16,1957 from Panola D. Logue who inherited the property from Samuel Tustin. She was his secretary and nurse. In the mid 1940’s and the early 1950’s the Coxes added on to the building. Edwin’s father, Amos, and brother, Minor Cox, worked part time at the store.
Edwin was very active in the community. Listed below are many of the organizations that Edwin contributed to or held membership:
• Coast Guard Auxiliary patrolling the Newport Beach Coast during World War II.
• Knights of Pythias,
• Santa Ana Elks Lodge #794,
• Community Welfare Organization,
• Certified Grocers of Los Angeles,
• Co-Founder of the Tustin Chamber of Commerce
• Reserve police officer of the Tustin Police Department,
• Volunteer Fireman for the City of Tustin,
• Boy Scout Master,
• Co-Founder of the Sea Scouts,
• Tustin Unified High School Board member from 1945-1954,
• Founding member of Lions Club of Tustin,
• Founding member of Boys Club in Tustin,
• Orange County Farm Bureau,
• Tustin Heights Director,
• National Police and Sheriff’s Association
• Orange County Heart Association Director
The Cox’s were members of the Tustin Presbyterian Church.
Edwin hired many Tustin teenagers to work at the store over the years. He was both a teacher and mentor. Chet Curl learned the butcher trade and opened his own meat market in Santa Ana. Jack Northrup also made a career in the food industry. Denny Hayden, a box boy at the market, sold honey from his hives at Edwin for resale.
The Cox’s rented houses at 328 W 3rd Street and then 712 D Street in Tustin. On March 1, 1948, they bought their home at 13542 Prospect Avenue in North Tustin.
Edwin died four months shy of his 50th birthday. Leola managed the Market for a while then leased the property to John Jamison, who reconfigured the building and had such tenants as Dr. Ryan, Farnsworth Jewelry and Dottie’s cleaners.
Leola moved to 1175 E 1st in Tustin. She passed away at age 63. Edwin and Leola are entombed in the mausoleum at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana.
They had two children during their marriage as follows:
Edwina Lucile Cox (3/12/1932-5/25/1997) was born in Los Angeles. She graduated from Tustin High School and attended UCLA where she was a member of the Alpha Delta Pi Sorority. She transferred to UC Santa Barbara where she graduated. She joined the fashion industry and was a swimsuit designer for Jantzen Apparel. Eventually she went into business for herself in New York. Due to health problems, she sought help from her brother and moved to Eureka, California where she died at age 66. She never got married.
Philip” Phil” Koehler Cox (7/11/1937-1/4/2025) was born was born in St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, California. He graduated from Tustin High School and became an Orange County Deputy Sheriff. Phil relocated near Eureka, California and continued his law enforcement career as a Deputy Sheriff in Humboldt County.
One of Phil’s childhood memories is receiving and folding the Santa Ana Register newspapers after school in a covered wire shed behind the Tustin Food Center. At age 14, he would ride his bike 10 miles going down Tustin Avenue which turned into Newport Boulevard, returning on Redhill Avenue delivering papers to the Lighter Than Air Base and to farmhouses in route. He was paid $21 a month.
Phil owned and managed the old market building with a variety on tenants including two restaurants until his death in Eureka California. His wife, Linda, and son Wayne, now own the property.
Revised 6/3/2025. Researched by Vicki Gray and Philip “Phil” Cox (son of Edwin Elton Cox)
