Lawrence Cottingham

Lawrence (Larry) Leigh Cottingham, 75, of Las Cruces passed away on January 11, 2022 of complications related to leukemia. Larry is survived by his wife of 52 years Irene, his daughter Sarah, his foster daughter Diane DiVittorio, and his beloved dog Lucy. Born on April 25, 1946 in Peoria, Illinois to Helen and Reyburn Cottingham as the youngest of 4, Larry was predeceased by his 3 siblings Reyburn, Ronald, and Patsy. Larry graduated from West Aurora High School in 1964 and he wasted no time leaving Aurora as he had already enlisted in the United States Air Force. After basic training Larry was stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque and trained in data processing, triggering his lifelong love for New Mexico and technology.



After his discharge in 1968, Larry moved to California and began working in a data center for the Service Bureau division of IBM in San Francisco. Shortly thereafter he met his wife Irene. They were married in 1969 and bought a house in San Jose in 1972 where they had their daughter Sarah in 1974. Larry stayed at the Service Bureau as it became Control Data and later Ceridian, moving into management roles along the way. He later went to work for the Pacific Exchange where he stayed until he was laid off in 2002. Not finding Silicon Valley particularly welcoming to job seekers in their late 50s, Larry and Irene decided to leave the Bay Area.



They chose to return to Larry's beloved New Mexico and settled in Las Cruces in 2004. Larry dedicated his retirement years to volunteer work. Most notably, Larry worked with the AARP CAASNM Tax Assistance program for 17 years. Larry was so dedicated to this program that in 2018 the CAASNM created an award in Larry's name to honor outstanding New Mexicans who represent the spirit of community service.



Larry was a dog and animal lover and he was never without a dog for more than a couple weeks, often to the chagrin of Irene. He was an adventurer who loved traveling to destinations both near and far, food, wine (some might have called him a wine snob), hiking, and nature. Larry was a devoted husband and father. He not only showed up, but usually volunteered or helped out at all of his daughters' recitals, games, meets, color guard shows, parades, and performances regardless of how many times their interests and activities changed. He was obsessed with locomotive steam engines, photography, technology, and in his later years he confoundingly became a bit of a K-pop stan. He prided himself on his dry sarcastic sense of humor; his Twitter bio was, "Sarcasm and cynicism in the desert." He was a fun person you could always count on to give you a good-natured ribbing. But the sarcasm belied his true nature, and Larry was always empathetic and supportive to those around him. Throughout his life he never stopped learning and striving to be a better person.