John "Jack" Joseph Cotter Jr.

John Joseph Cotter (Jack, Jackie, Pops), age 90, of Charlotte, North Carolina, passed away on May 13, 2025, surrounded by the immense love of his family. Born September 13, 1934 in Atlanta, Georgia, Jack spent his lifetime in service to others, through prayer, education, devotion, and loyalty.

As a teenager, he hitchhiked his way into Atlanta to attend high school at Marist, bolstered by his prep school uniform and an easy way about him. As the smallest but mightiest quarterback for the Marist football team, Jackie was an all-star pick, his jersey now hanging in the Marist Hall of Fame. He graduated in 1952 and entered St. Mary’s Seminary, a Jesuit order of priests in Roland Park, MD. He was ordained at Christ the King church in Atlanta in 1960, and eventually served as principal at St. Pius X Catholic High School. While there, he oversaw the integration of the first catholic high school in Atlanta, stood sideline to the first football State Championship in the school’s history, and was twice voted Atlanta’s favorite principal; but most importantly, he met our mother, Barbara Cotter. They found true companionship in each other and eventually married in December, 1969. The pair had four children, Trish, Sean, Lauriann, and Anne Marie, and cared deeply about their catholic education, and the importance of a close-knit family.

His career in sales was perhaps brief, but marked by his trademark sense of humor, his passion for human connection, and a love of sports which he channeled through selling athletic apparel to high schools and universities; most notably creating the War Damn Eagle mascot and mast still used at Marist High School today, and convincing the staff at the University of Georgia to imprint the newly concepted Harry Dog on their athletic apparel.

Always seeking knowledge and self-improvement, following a long career in education and public speaking, Pops got his Ph.D in philosophy at age 66. Ever a beacon of learning, he loved to impart wisdom, stories, and personal beliefs we affectionately called “Pops-isms”.

To tell the story of Jack Cotter is to tell a love story; one between a man and a woman that defied all the odds, one of extraordinary love for his children, and one of a deep abiding love for God. The best ways to honor this authentically loving man is to eat chocolate, pray, affectionately tease a loved one, take in a high school football game, do for others, call in favors, connect with everyone you meet, speak your mind, especially if it’s in defense or favor of those you love, be comically frugal while also being grandly over the top, and give everything you have to everything you love.

He is survived by his steadfast wife Barbara, and his four children, Trish Hoff and her husband David, Sean Cotter and his wife Mimi, Lauriann Jones and her husband Craig, and Anne Marie Ashley and her husband Chris. He is also survived by his ten beautiful grandchildren, Michael, Taylor, Lyric, Quinn, Reagan, Jackson, Caroline, Morgan, and Drew, and his first grandchild, Emily, alongside her fiancé Cole - their wedding Pops was planning to officiate this October.

A memorial mass will be held on Saturday May 17, at 1 p.m. at St. Luke Catholic Church in Mint Hill, with a reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, Jack has asked that donations be made to Marist and St. Pius X Catholic high schools in Atlanta, to be used for families in need of tuition assistance. .