William "Cotton" Colonel Cotton Jr.

William “Cotton” Colonel Cotton Jr, 82, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was born May 13, 1944 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was born to Willie and Sadie Cotton of Arcadia. William returned home on Saturday, June 27, 2026.

Cotton graduated from Arcadia High School and immediately joined the United States Marines Corps 1962 where he was a recruit at MCRD San Diego. Cotton served in the Vietnam war as a Rifleman and ended his career as a Sergeant in the Marine Corps in Yuma, Arizona.

On June 19, 1968, Cotton married Anita Kyle in Oklahoma City. To this union, two children were born, Marnie and Marlon. Cotton enjoyed spending time with family, all genres of music and smoking a variety of meats on his impressive smoker and would deliver smoked ribs to everyone he could. In his later years he enjoyed spending time with his two granddaughters Riley and Reese, attending dance recitals, swim meets, soccer, volleyball, basketball games, theatrical plays, grandparent’s day and picking them up from school daily. In the early 2000’s Cotton adopted a love for Koi Ponds and had a beautiful pond built at his home where today 18 Koi call home.

Cotton was preceded in death by his wife, Anita, and his parents, Willie and Sadie Cotton. He is survived by his daughter, Marnie, son Marlon (Stefanie) and granddaughters, Riley and Reese and many more relatives and friends.

Cotton left a lasting impression on so many and will be greatly missed by all.

A private funeral service celebrating the life of Cotton will take place in the upcoming weeks.