Leonard Cotten

Leonard Cotten, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather passed away peacefully on June 12th, 2011 in Colorado Springs, Colorado at the age of 84. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, October 18,1926 the 1st of two children born to the late Hiram and Ann Cohen.

Leonard graduated from Cass Technical High School with honors in Mechanical Arts in 1944 and from the University of Michigan in 1950 with a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering. It was during his college years that he made the difficult decision to change his last name from Cohen to Cotten in order to overcome discrimination during his studies. He served in the Army from 1950 to 1952 where he was a staff sergeant and taught soldiers the art of diesel engine repair. He worked for two years at Chrysler Motors as a production line engineer and thirty years at Ampex Corporation in Colorado Springs as a tooling design engineer where he was part of the team that designed the first instant replay video system for network TV.

He loved to laugh, dance, sing, hike, travel, and was an honored member of Temple Shalom in Colorado Springs.

He leaves behind his cherished wife of sixty years, Phyllis, and four wonderful daughters Suzanne, Nancy, Lisa and Diane. He will be missed. Memorial contributions can be made to Temple Shalom, Colorado Springs, CO.