Ira J Cottman

On Friday May 17, 2013 in Charlotte, NC, God called to rest one of his faithful and devoted servants, Ira Jane Cottman. She was born in Bassett, VA to the late George Oscar Johnson Sr. and Mattie Hairston Johnson.

Ira, affectionately known as Jane, was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt and friend with a fiery spirit, a shrewd sense of humor, and a heart of pure gold. She was a graduate of George Washington Carver High School (Martinsville, VA) and was united in marriage to her darling Kenneth A. Cottman in 1977. Jane retired in 2012 as the manager of Mecklenburg County’s Vital Records department in Charlotte, NC.

Jane was the youngest of 11 siblings and was preceded in death by two brothers, Clyde Johnson and George Oscar Johnson, Jr., as well as two sisters, Olivia Johnson Pilson, and Hazel Johnson Smith.

She leaves to cherish her memory: husband Kenneth A. Cottman, two daughters, Kimberley J. Cottman and Maisha J. Cottman, all of Charlotte, NC; one son, Rasheed Cottman (Erinn) of Atlanta, GA; one grandchild, Madison E. Davis, also of Charlotte, NC; two brothers, Willie Fred Johnson (Ann) of Mount Vernon, NY, and Wilbert Curtis Johnson (Elizabeth) of Martinsville, VA; four sisters, Ida M. Lawrence of New York, NY, Lucy J. Pilson, Ruby J. Pilson (Curtis), and Nannie J. Young, all of Bassett, VA; a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.