Cale Cotten

Cale was born on December 30, 1923 at home in Salt Lake City, His parents were Ada Vivian and Roy Cotten. He was the second of three children; Pearl, Cale and Elsie. All are deceased.
He loved telling stories of his childhood filled with fishing, ice skating on the pond at Liberty park, and spending time with his boyhood friends.
He entered the Army at 19 and served in the Corps of Engineers for two years during World War 2.  He found the love of his life, Barbara L. Cowdell, and they were married in March of 1946. They were later sealed in the Salt Lake Temple.
Their first daughter, Leslie, was born in 1947 and they were blessed with a second daughter, Cydnie in 1960. Shortly after the birth of their first daughter, Cale’s unit of the Utah National Guard one of the first activated and he served in the Navy for another two years during the Korean Conflict. He was part of the Construction Battalion, or SeaBees, and some of the airstrips that he helped build still exist. He loved the military and often said that if he hadn’t had a family, he would have made it his career.
Cale loved being a father and took great care of his girls. He didn’t mind the middle of the night visits with them and would rock them while singing “Dreamer’s Holiday” along with his buzzing sound.
He was a hard worker and loved to work in his trade as an upholsterer. He was very talented and did beautiful work for others. His last year of employment was in 2016 when he retired at the age of 93.
He also loved to work with wood. All the members of his family have some type of wooden sculpture or creative piece made by him.
He and Barbara loved to travel. They always had a vacation planned from the time their girls were young. As they grew older, they enjoyed cruising. They also loved to dance, and were involved in ballroom dancing, square dancing, and round dancing – where they also performed.
Barbara passed in February of 1996, after almost 50 years of marriage. Cale eventually met and married LaVon Brown. He and Vonnie spent a lot of time laughing and they enjoyed each other’s company for 15 years. They were also sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. LaVon passed in October of 2012.
Cale loved his family, and often said that he was blessed with two of the best families. He was always appreciative of everything his daughters, their husbands, and his grandchildren did for him.
He passed peacefully from pneumonia on November 16, 2017.
We love you Dad.  You are truly, “Unforgettable”.
Service Information

Graveside Service
December 30, 2017 at 1:00 pm
Memorial Mountain View, 3115 East 7800 South, Cottonwood Heights, Utah 84121