Drusilla Frances Priestly Cozart

Drusilla Frances Priestly Cozart was reunited in Heaven with the love of her life, Billy Glynn Cozart, on the evening of 17 August 2015 at her home in Magnolia, Arkansas. She was born 16 June 1932 in Velasco, Texas to James Dial and Gertrude Coward Priestly. Drue, as she liked to be called, was joined by a little sister, Virginia, when she was three. True to most sisterly sibling relationships, Drue was still calling her little sister "Bossy Butt" when they were both in their 80's. Drue could also still remember that, in their teenage years, Virginia would "borrow" the clothes that Drue had so meticulously ironed, and then returned them to Drue's closet, unwashed and un-ironed. Drue grew up on the Texas coast during the Depression years. As a result of sharing bath water with everyone else in her family, she always liked her own hot bath water that she didn't have to share with anyone else. And she took a hot bath every day the rest of her life! For a living during the depression, her grandfather, George Coward, raised sea turtles and various other creatures from the sea. During WWII, he would pack his truck with ice and sea food and would pedal his wares from Velasco all the way down to Seadrift, Texas. Drue would ride in the truck with him and loved that time spent with her grandfather. She remembered when Pearl Harbor happened because she had the measles. During the time that she lived on the Texas coast, she survived 11 hurricanes. She could remember watching through cracks in the walls of houses, and watching other (smaller) houses flying by. She also remembered during one storm when everyone got "the itch." We still don't know what "the itch" is, but they had it! When she was in high school, she played the snare drum. She was a whiz at shorthand and even in later years, she still liked to whip out her stenographers pad. After Drue graduated from high school in 1948, she lived in Houston, Texas for several years. She always talked fondly of the great time she had with her roommates going to plays and operas and ballets. She eventually enrolled at Sam Houston State College in Huntsville, Texas. One Christmas she went "back home" and was riding around the town square with her grandmother, when she "spied" Billy Cozart walking around the square. They knew of each other, but didn't "know" each other. On a whim, she called him up to see what he was doing, and as luck had it, he was unmarried. They went out on a date and 3 weeks later, Billy drove her out to a secluded spot on the beach. Drue said riding out there she knew it was a long lonely walk back to town. Billy popped that romantic question, "So, when are we going to get married?" and the rest is history, as they say. They were married 3 months later in Velasco, Texas on 27 April 1956. As Drue liked to say, she and Billy were not Catholic, but they were passionate Protestants, and they started their family right away, eventually having 5 children in 5 1/2 years. In 1966, she and Billy moved their whole family to Magnolia, Arkansas, which they always thought of as one of the best decisions they ever made. She joined the First United Methodist Church in Magnolia in 1966. Drue and Billy were both really into scouting and Drue became a Den Mother. She also was a Girl Scout Leader. She and Billy loved to square dance, which is where they met lifelong friends, Billy and Bobbie Ruth Webb. Drue was a stay at home mom until her youngest children reached 2nd grade. She then started working part-time during tax season for Mr. Porter. Then, an opening came up as a secretary at Keith, Clegg, and Eckert law firm, and that was the perfect job for Drue. She absolutely loved working there, and intermingling with all the folks she met. She loved to probate wills. Drue was a hard worker all her life. She would have supper on the table every night promptly at 6 p.m., and then everything was washed and put up by 6:30 p.m., so she could watch "The Wheel of Fortune." She did love that Wheel. She had a great love of music. She played the piano, and one of her favorite songs to play was "The Blue Danube Waltz." After she retired from Keith, Clegg, and Eckert, she and Billy traveled extensively throughout the United Sates. She loved to collect spoons, and so family members would bring her back spoons from their trips to various places around the world. She loved grandfather clocks and had one in practically every room of her house. She loved to eat at Marlar's Cafeteria. That was the social highlight of her day. She and Billy loved to go eat and visit with folks, and it was a godsend to Drue after Billy died. She looked forward to it every day. She loved living in Magnolia and loved all of the people who helped her every day. That was evident up to the day that she died and all of her children are eternally grateful to everyone who helped her. She is survived by her sister, Virginia (Grady) Joiner, of Houston, Texas; a sister-in-law, Dorothy Oden of Granbury, Texas; her sons, James (Rena) Cozart, of Atlanta, Georgia; Mason (Robin) Cozart of Little Rock, Arkansas; David Cozart of Fayetteville, Arkansas; Andrew Cozart of Little Rock, Arkansas; and her only daughter, Angela (Phillip) McKnight of Fayetteville, Arkansas. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Katie (Joel) Williams of Dallas, Texas; Elizabeth (Joseph) Courtney of Urbana, Illinois; Glyn Cozart of Washington, D.C; and Jack Cozart of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She is also survived by nieces and nephews, Doug Oden, Donna Hohon, Susie Zulch, Mike Oden, Karen Kemp, and Kim Anderson. Her visitation will be at Lewis Funeral Home, Inc. in Magnolia, Arkansas on Friday, August 21 from 6-8 p.m. at the funeral home. Her funeral service will be Saturday, August 22 at 10 am at First United Methodist Church in Magnolia. Graveside services will follow at Magnolia Memorial Park in Magnolia. Memorials may be made to the First United Methodist Church in Magnolia or to the Billy and Drusilla Cozart Scholarship at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Arkansas. Address is P.O. Box 9174, Magnolia, Arkansas, 71754 or www.saufoundation.org.