John Peyton Cock, age 87, of Davdison, NC died Sept 24, 2026, at Levine-Dickson Hospice House in Huntersville, NC.
Born in 1938, near Willis, Virginia, to Peyton and Dotte Slusher Cock, he grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountain town of Galax, Virginia.
He was a writer, a pastor, spirit guide and traveling teacher. His written works include Called to Be: A Spirit Memoir; The Transparent Event: post-modern Christ Images; Motivation for the Great Work; Our Universal Spirit Journey; At one with the Heart of Creation; Journer; By Cosmic Design; The Daily Spirit Journal, Volumes I-VI.
In his later years, he was a writer, a spirit guide and daily blogger at rejourney.blogspot.com. (These books are available to be read on https://icaglobalarchives.org/bookshelf/ where Lynda volunteered for several years).
He was the owner of the Men’s Shop in Galax for fourteen years; a founder and the first president of the Galax Downtown Association; a graduate of Galax High School; a leader in the Order: Ecumenical for sixteen years in Chicago, Kansas City, Washington, D.C., Canberra, Australia, Jakarta, Indonesia, Mumbai, India, and Denver, CO; a United Methodist minister serving churches in Alpharetta, GA, Asheville, NC and Richmond, VA; head of the English Department of Frederick Military Academy and instructor of English at Baylor School for Boys; a graduate of Galax Schools, Emory and Henry College, and Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Recipient of NDEA scholarship at Auburn University.
Hobbies: playing golf and teaching his grandchildren how to chip and putt. Playing checkers and cornhole. Helping to keep the neighborhood clean.
John is survived by his wife of 66 years, Lynda Lippard Cock; sons and daughters-in-law, John Preston Cock II and Kelley Taylor Cock, of Davidson, NC; Jeremiah Cock and Veronica Wordsworth of Seville, Spain. Also surviving him are his 11 grandchildren. Lyndon, Preston, Caleb, Meron, Eli, Nolan, Clara, Alec, Tomas, Lauryn, and Dylan.
A memorial service will be held at Davidson College Presbyterian Church at a later date in October of 2026. We are still working on the details.
Memorial gifts may be given to Davidson College Presbyterian Church https://www.dcpc.org/;
the Order: Ecumenical/ICA for its Archives project, https://icaglobalarchives.org/; to the Fifth City: Chicago community project, https://wedgeblade.net/wordpress/fifthcity/index.html; to an Indian or Indonesian village project, https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/582851468772158440; to the Foundation for Excellence Scholarship of Galax Schools, https://www.galaxschools.us/page/the-galax-foundation-for-excellence-in-education/; to a Galax downtown project, https://destinationbydesign.com/project/galax-grows-downtown-action-plan/; or to a project at Emory and Henry College, https://www.emoryhenry.edu/appalachian-center-for-civic-life/civic-memory/the-watershed-project/. May his legacy live on. God rest his soul.
(Source: https://www.cavin-cook.com/obituaries/john-cock/#!/Obituary)