Helen Marie Cotton was born August 8, 1952, to Charles (Chuck) and Mary (Jones) Cotton in San Francisco, and she grew up in Texas while Chuck was stationed at Fort Hood with the U.S. Army. She was a daddy’s girl and the oldest of her five siblings, who she doted on. She loved to dress-up her sisters, by making their clothes and doing their hair. Helen also had an early love for bikes, and motorcycles eventually brought her to California (full of legendary stories.) She became the first female cook at the Fairview State Hospital in Costa Mesa.
Helen always had a calling as a caretaker, and she spent many years caring for her parents after they suffered strokes. She also took care of most of her sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews at one point or another, as well as her grandnieces and grandnephews. Whether that be making sure her nephew Tyler got to school on time or helping her sister Frances (who was single at the time with two children) move to Colorado and get settled, Helen was always there with open arms and an open door no matter her means. Her sister Charlene captured it best: “When Helen says I love you more, she really means it.”
Helen had an incredible ability to overcome the hardest of challenges. She battled cancer once before and kicked its ass about 15 years ago. She’s also had to fight against several other ailments in her later years. In 2018, she was displaced by the Camp Fire and the loss of a 28-year-relationship with her partner. She relocated to North Carolina to be with family, but then encountered another major challenge: The loss of her right leg. But she persevered – disabled and alone in a new place, Helen ended up finding one of her greatest joys: The love and community of Imprint Church and her dear friend Miss Holly, who was “more like a daughter to me than a friend.”
The faith and friendship she discovered from this community helped to give her the strength, hope & comfort she needed these last few months, after a surprise, terminal cancer diagnosis in July 2020. Following her diagnosis, she came to Pueblo West, Colorado, to be cared for by her sister Frances and her husband Greg. One of Helen’s last wishes was for her brothers and sisters to be okay; her siblings and nieces/nephews rallied to Pueblo to surround her with love these last two months, and it’s here that she passed away at home with family by her side on the morning on October 3, 2020. After a lifetime of overcoming challenges and loving us more, the biggest legacy she leaves us with is her heart.
Helen was preceded in death by her parents, and is survived by a large family who loved her: her siblings Rodney (Elizabeth) Lambert, Charlene (Michael) Baltierra, Frances (Greg) Heninger, Rosemary Cotton, Fred (Kathy) Cotton; her nieces & nephews Charles (Janet) Bagley, Julia Thornton, Crysta Bagley, John Thornton, Deanna Dutton, Tyler Quintard, Anthony Heninger, Lyndsey (Justin) Martinez & Marcus Heninger; and many grandnieces & grandnephews.
