Phyllis Orseck Cotton

Phyllis Orseck Cotton, of Miami, Florida and Boston, Massachusetts, died of natural causes on Tuesday, August 14. She was 75. Phyllis had just days earlier completed a cruise among the Alaska glaciers with her adoring children and grandchildren, in celebration of her 75th birthday.

Phyllis lived an exceptionally full and exciting life. In recent years, she traveled the world in the company of her family and the many, many friends she had developed over the years in Miami, New England, Lugano, Switzerland and Cape Town, South Africa. She was a great and knowledgeable patron of the fine arts, including painting, theater, literature, film, and classical music. She was an equally avid follower of As the World Turns, proud not to have missed a single episode during the show’s entire 54-year run. Phyllis was a valued mentor to countless friends who looked to her for advice, wisdom, and comfort. She was a fierce advocate for the people and causes she loved. She was a gifted public speaker. Phyllis was famous for holding and expressing passionate views – nearly always correct – on issues great and small. For all her accomplishments and interests, her greatest joy was her large extended family, with whom she stayed closely connected wherever she happened to be. Phyllis held her family and friends together, her effect and influence on them was profound, and she will be deeply missed.

After graduating at the top of her high school class in Liberty, New York, Phyllis attended Cornell University on an academic scholarship. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in English. Phyllis married Bobby Orseck, also of Liberty, New York, in 1962. They moved to Miami, where Bobby formed what became the prominent law firm, Podhurst & Orseck. Phyllis was widowed in 1978, and was remarried to Harold Cotton of Worcester, Massachusetts in 1982. Phyllis was again widowed in 1996, but she maintained an unshakeable positive and enthusiastic outlook the rest of her life, which was a source of inspiration and wonder to those around her.

Phyllis is survived by three children, Bonni Stephenson, Gary Orseck (Robin) and Jon Orseck (Stacy); three stepdaughters, Laurie Cotton-Smith (Leslie), Nancy Cotton (John Given) and Betsy Cotton, eleven grandchildren, sister Carol Baim and brother Stephen Levine, and her dear companion of thirteen years, David Bloomberg, of Cape Town and Lugano.

Funeral services will be at 11 AM on Friday, August 17, at Temple Beth Shalom, 4144 Chase Avenue, Miami Beach, burial at Lakeside Memorial Park, 10301 N.W. 25th Street, Miami, immediately following the service.

Contributions may be made to the Harold N. Cotton Scholars Fund,c/o Brigham & Womens Hospital, 75 Francis St., Boston, MA 02215, or to the Miami Art Museum.

Arrangements under the direction of Lakeside Memorial Park and Funeral Home, 10301 NW 25th Street, Miami, FL 33172 305 592 0690