Born Sept. 28, 1937 in Boston, Mass. to Alison Niven Damon and Edmund Ives Damon. “Cot,” as he was known, attended the Rectory and Gunnery schools in Connecticut, and went on to Dean College. He served in the Army and was stationed in the Philippines.
He started his career at State Street Bank in Boston, but his greatest desire was to move to Maine and be a lobsterman, which he did in 1970. In 1971 he married Edie Chase (divorced 1996).
After the birth of their first daughter, they decided to move to the west coast. There he began a career in private schools, first working at the Thacher School in Ojai, Calif.
After the birth of their second daughter, the east coast pulled them back and in 1977 they returned to Maine where he went to work as the business manager at Hebron Academy in Hebron, where he worked for over 20 years. He finished his career at the Brookwood School in Manchester, Mass.
He is survived by his two daughters, Chase Fairburn Damon and Faith Damon Sykes, as well as son-in-law Michael C. Sykes Jr.; grandchildren, Phoebe Chase Sykes and Hewitt Cotton Sykes; siblings, Alison Zeigler (Joe), Faith Frasca and Niven Damon (Jacque); as well as many cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Cotton was a very dedicated father and grandfather. He would attend every school concert, talent show, award ceremony, and sporting event for both his children and grandchildren, and he dedicated many weekend days on playing fields and in cold ice hockey rinks.
He also treasured the summers and time spent on Heron Island, off the coast of Christmas Cove with his extended family and lifelong friends.
Cotton loved music of all kinds. His many activities included decades of barbershop and chorus singing and in 2006 he was named Barbershopper of the Year for the Northeast District. As a tenor he sang in several barbershop quartets, performed in two musicals, and in his retirement in the Damariscotta region was a member of the Nor’easter Barbershop Chorus, Coastal Chorale, Hearts Ever Young and the church choir. He was able to combine his love of travel with his interest in barbershop music and became a national barbershop contest judge and later a contest administrator.
He was also very dedicated to each of the towns in which he resided. He held leadership positions in many community and educational organizations, including but not limited to Youth Soccer in Ojai, Calif.; Community Concepts, Kiwanis, Rightstart and the Weary Club in the Oxford Hills; the South Bristol Historical Society, and the Heron Island Village Improvement Society.
Cotton passed away peacefully on Nov. 30, 2018, after a long battle with dementia.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 27, 2019 at 11 a.m. at Union Congregational Church of South Bristol, at the corner of Route 129 and Middle Road, with a reception to follow across the street at the Parish House. A marker will be placed in the family plot at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord. Mass.
Contributions in his memory can be made to the HIVIS Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 2273, South Portland, ME 04116; or Harmony Foundation International, 110 7th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37203.
Arrangements entrusted to Hobbs Funeral Home, South Portland.
Online condolences may be expressed at hobbsfuneralhome.com.
