Ron Cotten poses with a Vietnam War memorial marker at the old Veterans Park near Jamestown High School in 2012. Cotten was instrumental in the relocation of the park to the City’s west side near Logan and Harding Avenues.

Ron Cotten dedicated his life to serving his country and his community.

This year marks the fourth Memorial Day celebration without Cotten since his death in January 2015.

A U.S. Navy veteran, Cotten was assigned to Airborne Early Warning Squadron Eleven. His squadron’s primary duty was to fly the North Atlantic Radar Barrier from New Foundland to the Azores and back to tract hostile aircrafts heading toward North America.

He received an honorable discharge in May 1960 at the age of 21.

“When you go and serve, you are being called by your country to protect (its residents), to protect the liberties that we all have,” Cotten said in 2012.

Upon returning to his native Jamestown, Cotten began an illustrious career with the Jamestown Police Department retiring as sergeant in 1988.

Although retired, Cotten continued to serve his community as a member of Christ First United Methodist Church, past Commander of AMVETS Post 726 and past president of the United Veterans Council.

In 2009, he led a campaign to raise more than $30,000 to place 59 headstones on the unmarked graves of veterans buried in Lake View Cemetery.

“(The soldiers) walked away from their families to serve their country and they made the greatest sacrifice a person can make,” he said during the campaign. “They do not deserve to lie in an unmarked grave; it’s just not right.”

Following the success of the “Remember the Fifty-Nine” campaign, Cotten soon became the leader of a much larger campaign, one that would serve as a permanent memorial to veterans, past, present and future.

Two years later, Cotten, as chairman of the Veterans Memorial Commission, became the face for relocating Veterans Park from Second and Third Streets on the city’s east side, to Logan Park located on West Third Street near Logan and Harding Avenues.

“There is a lot of emotion tied into moving the park but it is important to have a central place to meet and have ceremonies,” Cotton said at the time.

One of the reasons for relocating the park was because of vandalism in its current location.

The new design for the park included three areas connected by a paved walkway. The first features a Civil-War era cannon, the second a flag pole and monuments honoring the branches of the U.S. military, and the final consists of a memorial to honor those who lost their lives in combat.

“It is so we never forget those who never came back,” Cotten said.

After several years and thousands of dollars raised by the Commission from individuals, businesses and local foundations, Veterans Memorial Park was completed and dedicated on Veterans Day in 2014.

“I can’t put into words what all of this means,” Cotten said during the dedication. “I feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment of what this community has done.”

Since then, the City of Jamestown has hosted its annual Veterans Day and Memorial Day celebrations at the park. Local military support groups, such as the Blue Star Mothers, also hold memorials and ceremonies at the park throughout the year.

“I know my dad would love to see people enjoying the park, holding ceremonies there and honoring those who are no longer with us,” Cotten’s daughter, Amy, said.

According to Amy, Cotten’s entire family is grateful he was able to see his vision come to fruition before he passed. His life was spent serving others and now there is a permanent reminder in the city of his dedication.

“Seeing (my father’s) legacy live on in everything he has done with all of his work with local veterans is amazing and incredibly heartfelt.”

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