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Robert Ernest Cottle

No. 200718 February 1932 - 7 January 1999

Died: Williamsburg, VA

Interred: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA

Robert Ernest Cottle was born on 8 Feb 1932 in Weirton, WV, to Ernest Milford Cottle and Frances Elizabeth Stone Cottle. Bob spent his young childhood in Weirton and Reedy, WV, and the rest of his youth in Parkersburg, WV, with his two older sisters, Marie and Jane. He graduated from Parkersburg High School in 1950. An Eagle Scout, Bob always had a strong sense of duty and responsibility. He received an appointment from Senator Matthew M. Neely and entered the Academy on 5 Jul 1950. This appointment to West Point enabled Bob to be the first in his family to attend college.

 

Bob was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery on 4 Jun 1954 and graduated 541st in his class on 8 Jun 1954.

 

He served as a lieutenant in Artillery units at Ft. Sill, OK, and then in Nuremberg, Germany. In Germany in 1958, he met and courted Jean Frances Engeljohn, who was a teacher in the dependent school system. They fell in love quickly and remained very much so their whole lives. Jean was born and raised in Bloomington, IL, but her time in Germany began her love of travel. They married on 9 Jun 1959 in Fuerth, Germany, and their first child, Catherine Anne, was born in Nuremburg, Germany.

 

In 1960, Bob and Jean returned to Ft. Sill, where Bob attended the Artillery Officers Advanced Course, followed by Guided Missile School. Their second child, Linda Jean, was born in 1961 at Ft. Sill. Bob next commanded a Nike Hercules Battery of the 7th Artillery Group in Thule, Greenland, 1962-63. He returned to Ft. Sill in 1963 for duty with the staff & faculty and the Pershing Missile program. Bob and Jean’s third child, Susan Marie, was born in 1964 at Ft. Sill. During this tour, Bob joined a task force in Germany testing the Pershing Missile System in the Quick Reaction Alert role.

 

Bob graduated from the Command & General Staff› College, Ft. Leavenworth, KS, in 1967. He then served with the Institute for Defense Analysis and the office of the Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, Headquarters, Department of the Army, in 1967–68. Bob received a master’s degree in economics from the University of Maryland in 1970, and in 1970–71, he served with the 1st Cavalry Division Artillery in Vietnam. Bob and Jean returned to Ft. Sill during 1972–74, and Bob commanded the 3rd Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Missile Group, before being assigned as the executive officer of the III Corps Artillery.

 

 

 

Bob graduated from the Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Montgomery, AL, in 1975, and during 1975–77 served with the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Manpower & Reserve Affairs. Bob retired from the Army as a colonel in 1977, receiving a second award of the Legion of Merit at his retirement ceremony.

 

Bob worked in systems analysis at Operations Research Incorporated for several years and then as the director of the technical support group of the General Research Corporation during 1980–89.

 

 

In 1990, Bob and Jean moved to Williamsburg, VA, and bought a house on a golf course in Kingsmill. Bob was an avid golfer and loved living right on the course. Both Bob and Jean were very active in volunteering and community activities. Bob was a member of the board of directors of Patriots Colony, a military retirement facility in Williamsburg, and he assisted in the facility’s planning and development. In 1996, Bob served as commodore of the Kingsmill Yacht Club, where he and Jean enjoyed good times with fellow club members.

 

Perhaps the volunteer work to which he was most committed was with the Lions Club of Williamsburg. Bob joined the Lions in 1992 and took a leading role in their programs. He started several new activities and fundraisers, including a bike-a-thon and a basketball tournament, and was instrumental in establishing the club’s golf tournaments and monthly breakfast club. To honor his service, Bob received the Melvin Jones Fellowship award. Bob was serving as the Lions Club president when he died in January 1999.

 

Bob and Jean owned a beach house in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and loved spending time there. They bought their first property in Southern Shores in 1967. In 1977, they sold the land and purchased a house, affectionately nicknamed by Bob as the BBC (Basic Beach Cottage). In 1995, they built a new house, the BBC II (or Better Beach Cottage), on that lot now owned by his daughters. Bob and Jean enjoyed many wonderful vacations in the Outer Banks, and their children and grandchildren continue the tradition.

 

 

Bob was an avid fisherman and loved to surf fish at the Outer Banks (even if he rarely caught anything!) and venture out on the James and York Rivers near Williamsburg in his Boston Whaler with his son-in-law, Charlie Ippolito.

 

Bob died suddenly on January 7, 1999, and was survived by his wife Jean; their three daughters: Catherine Anne, Linda Jean, and Susan Marie; and two grandchildren.

 

—Prepared by his daughters Linda & Susan,

with assistance from Bill Epling

 

Originally published in TAPS, July 2011

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