John Paul Cotis

John P. Cotis, 84, of Sparta passed from this life on Tuesday, October 18th after a short illness that he fought with grit, grace and good humor. Born in the Bronx, New York in 1937, John was the son of John Cotis and Stella Rozakis. After his father’s untimely passing just a year later, John was raised by his single mother and her extended family of 7 brothers and sisters. He graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School and earned an appointment to the United States Naval Academy in 1956 on a football scholarship.

Upon graduation, John was awarded a commission in the United States Air Force where he trained as a pilot. He successfully moved from fighter jets to test piloting (never crashing once) and eventually, as a Captain, was promoted to aide-de-camp and pilot for Four-Star General Robert Porter, Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Southern Command.

In 1960, he married the love of his life, Beverly Jean Boehm, an American Airlines flight attendant and they got to work on starting a family. The work paid off as they had three children (John, Jean and Jim) in the next four years. Ten years later a fourth child, Joe, joined the family. John liked to say he only had to make two decisions in his life; to become a pilot and to marry Bev. She could decide the rest for the next 60 years.

In 1966, John left the Air Force for a career as a commercial pilot with American Airlines where he worked for the next 30 years. Upon his retirement, he set out to travel as little as humanly possible while playing as much golf as anyone who is not a tour pro could.

John enjoyed games of chance and was rumored to be a formidable poker player as well as a local four-wall handball champion (a game all but gone, since it hurts a lot) but golf held a special place in his heart in his later years. A regular at Farmstead Golf Club, John could be seen most days with his signature cigar lit up, ready to compete and joke with all comers. Many people he met and interacted with would describe him as a larger-than-life figure, because he was.

John was preceded in death by his father John and his mother Stella. He is survived by his wife Beverly, his sister Evan Anastos, his four children, John (Meredith), Jean, Jim (Beverly) and Joe, and his seven grandchildren, Charlie, Jennifer, John, Brandon, Devin, Kaiser and Violet who will all miss him tremendously.

A memorial visitation will be held at Goble Funeral Home, 22 Main St. Sparta, NJ 07871 on Saturday, Nov 6th 2021 from 2-4pm.