REIDSVILLE - Deacon Joseph Oscar Cogdell, age 89, passed away Tuesday, August 13, 2024 at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, NC.
Public viewing will begin on Monday, August 19, 2024 from 12 until 8 p.m. at McLaurin-Harris Funeral Home, 721 East Morehead Street, Reidsville, NC.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, August 20, 2024 at 1 p.m. at Rocky Ridge Missionary Baptist Church, 1694 US-158, Reidsville, NC. The family visitation will begin at 12:30 p.m. Overseer B. Stephon Brown, officiating and Pastor, Reverend Troy Wallace, eulogist.
The committal and interment will follow in Greenview Cemetery, Reidsville, NC with masonic rites.
You may live stream the service via https://www.youtube.com/@McLaurin-Harris_Live
Joseph was born on March 16, 1935 in Socastee, South Carolina to Isaac Cogdell and Alice Knox Cogdell.
Joseph was a dutiful and faithful member of Rocky Ridge Missionary Baptist Church for 62 years. Throughout his servitude, he was passionate about his committed service and dedicated work at Rocky Ridge. A server of many roles, over the 62 years Joseph found time to teach Sunday School, facilitate Vacation Bible school, and support the upkeep of the church parsonage. Joe’s “good name” elevated him to Trustee, Senior Choir member, and he became an ordained Deacon. Church leadership was Joe’s niche. He thrived in organizing and ensuring that the church facilities were intact and he was consistently willing to be a “beacon of light” for those who attended worship services each week. Joseph loved the Lord, and it manifested through his kind spirit, loving powerful prayers, and the manner he treated all with whom he came into contact. Joseph was a lifelong learner and he shared knowledge with those around him. He was educated in the Horry County Public Schools in South Carolina, where he attended Morton Elementary, Franklin Middle School, and later Whittmore High School in Conway, South Carolina. After high school, Joe attended Rockingham Community College and earned a certificate in Masonry. For 41 years, Joseph was employed by The American Tobacco Company, where he worked in the logistics and transportation department, providing support for maintaining the integrity of the product. Joe loved fellowship with his family and one of his favorite pastimes was sports. Coaching little league and watching his children play football, baseball, and basketball gave him great joy and happiness. He actively participated in each of these sports and he also attended and supported high school sports when his sons were student athletes. Everyone who knows Joe understands that the outdoors was his haven. His love for gardening was evident in all the tomatoes, potatoes, and green beans that he grew, as well as attending to his tractor, one of his most prized toys. Through his community, Joe was a humble servant. He participated in mentoring children at the elementary schools in Reidsville, and at his home church. Nothing made Joe more proud than being a servant to those other than himself. Joe was a member of the Lone Star Lodge #33 F&AM (PHA) in Reidsville. Joseph was married to the love of his life, Mrs. Katherine Cobb Cogdell, for 62 years where they created a beautiful and comfortable life for themselves, raising three loving and doting children, and maintaining a harvest of not only their garden, but a harvest of devotion, faithfulness, goodness, peace, and much much laughter and pure joy.
Having a good name is truly more desirable than possessing great riches which only have a short duration. A good name is developed over a lifetime, which Joseph Oscar Cogdell has accomplished. The true judgment of our good name will not be known until we meet our Lord in Heaven. We feel assured that Joe has heard the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant, well done.”
Joseph was preceded in death by his parents, Isacc and Alice Cogdell, his sister Roberta King, and his two brothers, Isacc Cogdell, Jr. and Ernest Cogdell.
He is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Katherine Cobb Cogdell, of the home; sons, Joel Cogdell, of Charlotte, NC; Carl Cogdell (Tracie), of Atlanta, GA; daughter, Valerie Cogdell Jamison (Craig), of Charlotte, NC; sister, Thelma Brown, of Loxahatchee, FL; brother-in law, Richard Cobb and sister-in-law, Bessie Cobb, both of Reidsville; eight grandchildren, three great-grandchildren; and a host of family and friends.
Service by McLaurin-Harris.
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