John "Jackie" Joseph Cota Jr.

John Joseph “Jackie” Cota, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1941 to Bessie Jo and John J. Cota, Sr. He attended Christ the King School and was a proud member of Marist Class of ‘59. Jackie grew up an enthusiastic fan of all of Atlanta’s teams, particularly the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets—an allegiance made all the more ironic by his graduation from the University of Georgia.

The greatest blessing of his life was Lucy Reinhardt, with whom he shared 58 years of marriage. Lucy and Jackie’s enduring devotion to one another is what marriage is truly about.

Jackie took over his father’s manufacturer’s representative firm, Murphy and Cota. Recognizing that security systems were the wave of the future, he steered the business toward this emerging field and secured its continued success until major health challenges necessitated his early retirement. He spent those years enjoying his two favorite hobbies—fishing and hiking almost every trail in Western North Carolina—with Elmo, his dog and hiking companion.

A devoted steward of the Catholic faith, Jackie was a longtime member of Holy Spirit Catholic Church. He consistently pursued knowledge by attending adult education classes and reading books on every subject, and he always had an opinion to express. As was said of Lonesome Dove’s author Larry McMurtry, Jackie was “a database with an opinion.”

Jackie is survived by his wife, Lucy Reinhardt Cota; two daughters, Catherine and Mary (Robert Reed); three grandchildren, Cecilia, Charles, and Catherine; his sister, Joanne Cota Bell, and her three sons, Jody, John, and Patrick; and his brother-in-law, Lawrence Cecil Reinhardt, and his daughter and son, Laura and Tre.

A funeral mass will be held at St. Mary’s Chapel at Holy Spirit Catholic Church on Monday, August 24th at 1:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Life House Atlanta (www.lifehouseatlanta.org), whose mission is to build a respite home for families with children facing life-limiting illnesses