Mariner Garnett Cox, Commander, United States Navy (Retired), Naval Aviator, Silver Star recipient, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away on September 3, 2026, in Ashburn, Virginia, at the age of 82, after a years long battle with vascular dementia. He is now reunited with his wife Donna, and with all those who went before him.

Mariner was born on June 13, 1944, in Norfolk, Virginia, the son of Captain Robert Dudley Cox Jr. and Kathryn Eva (Garnett) Cox. His name was not chosen casually, and it was not new. Mariner is a rare given name, derived from the Latin marinus, "of the sea," and in French, marinier translates simply as sailor. The name had been carried through his family for generations, a name of honor among people for whom the sea was not a backdrop but a way of life.

He grew up the son of a Navy officer, which meant growing up everywhere, including Morocco, where his father served as Commander of Naval Activities in North Africa. It was a detail Mariner was known to embellish magnificently. On a blind date in Louisville, Kentucky with a young nursing student named Donna Jean Bickerest, he told her he had spent his adolescence dodging lions and hyenas on the way to school. He later confessed the closest he had ever been to a lion was the zoo in Norfolk. Donna was not deterred. They were engaged in 1965. Mariner attended the University of Louisville on a Naval ROTC scholarship, serving as a Midshipman while completing his degree. On June 6, 1966, a date Mariner insisted upon so he would never forget a wedding anniversary, he graduated from the University of Louisville, was commissioned an Ensign in the United States Navy, and married the woman he would spend his life with.

Twenty-five years and five months of distinguished service followed. Mariner became a Naval Aviator and flew throughout his early career, including a year in combat in Vietnam where he flew dozens of combat air missions and distinguished himself under fire. He was awarded the Silver Star for valor, the third highest military decoration for combat gallantry, as well as the Air Medal with 21 awards, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, and numerous additional decorations recognizing a career defined by both courage in combat and service at the highest levels of national defense. He completed a master’s degree at the Naval War College's College of Naval Warfare in 1981, then went on to serve in multiple roles focused on nuclear nonproliferation across the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), and in his final assignment served with the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency as Chief of Staff. When his son Alex was commissioned as a United States Army Officer, Mariner administered the oath, one of the finest moments a military father can know. He retired on December 1, 1991.

Following his retirement from the Navy, Mariner continued to serve the U.S. government for a number of years as a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES), and later worked as a consultant to several nongovernmental organizations focused on arms control and international security. He and Donna built their civilian life together in Stafford, Virginia. He later managed a Radio Shack franchise before stepping back entirely to devote himself to Donna and family. He and Donna kept a beloved beach house in Avon on the North Carolina Outer Banks, where the family often gathered, and where he was happiest with the water nearby. He lost Donna in 2013 and carried that loss quietly for the thirteen years that followed. He loved working on cars and had a deep affection for chihuahuas, who were constant companions in his home. He had a gift for making people laugh that never left him, even in his final years.

Mariner is survived by son Alexander Joseph Cox, son Stephen Garnett Cox and his wife Tammy; four grandchildren, Kathryn Claflin, Lily, Kylan, and Chloe Cox; siblings Kathryn Helen West and Donald Horace Cox.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Donna Jean Bickerest Cox; his parents, Captain Robert Dudley Cox Jr. and Kathryn Eva Garnett Cox; brother Robert Dudley Cox III.

Visitation will be held on September 27, 2026, at 2 PM, at Colonial Funeral Home of Leesburg, in Leesburg, Virginia. Services and internment will be held at Arlington National Cemetery at a date to be announced. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to the Alzheimer's Association in memory of Mariner Garnett Cox.