Florence Throckmorton Cotten died August 29, 2008, at the age of 97. She was born April 12, 1911, in Marietta, Cass County, Texas. When she was ten, the family moved to Dumas in the Texas Panhandle. She attended Dumas public schools and West Texas State Teachers College (now West Texas A&M University) in Canyon, Texas. After college she returned to Dumas and taught high school English. In 1935, she married W.C. Cotten, Jr., an engineer, who was involved in highway, bridge and later military base construction. From 1935-1943 they moved around following construction projects from one Texas town to another. In 1939 son, Mike, was born in Uvalde, Texas. From 1943 to 1945 W.C. served in the U.S. Navy overseas and Florence and Mike lived in Amarillo where she worked in the advertising department of the Amarillo Globe News. Upon W.C.'s return, the family moved to Austin in 1946. Florence served as an assistant secretary of the Texas State Senate under Charles Schnable from 1955 to 1957 and from 1965 to 1973. She was executive secretary to the Board of Regents of the state teachers colleges from 1958 to 1961. She served as administrative secretary for the UT Interfraternity Council in 1963-1964. She was president of the auxiliary of the Travis Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional engineers in 1963-1964. She was a member of the Board of the Travis Association for the Blind and a longtime member of Westminster Presbyterian Church. She was predeceased by her husband, W.C. Cotten, Jr., and a sister, Anna Roberts. She is survived by son, Mike and his wife, Betty; his granddaughters Ashley Putman of Austin, TX and Lesley Childress of Jackson, MS; and six great grandchildren. A graveside service will be held at 10:00 a.m., on Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at Austin Memorial Park. The family wishes to thank Dr. Mike Pellegrini and the nurses and staff of Westminster Manor Health Center and Odyssey Health Care for their care and support of Florence during the past year. Obituary and guestbook online at http://wcfish.com

Published in the Austin American-Statesman on 8/31/2008