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<p><em>David George “Dave” Cotts</em> was born in Menomonie, WI, the younger of two children of Don Cotts and Henrietta Brandt Cotts, who reared him with the small-town values that would guide him throughout his life: integrity, modesty, hard work, good humor, and service to others.</p>
<p>He attended Menomonie High School, where he excelled academically and athletically. Upon his graduation from high school in 1955, Dave was recognized with the “Alumni Award” as the top overall student in his class based on scholarship, athletic performance, citizenship, and leadership—a distinction he shared with his beloved older sister, Charlotte.</p>
<p>Dave was also active in the Boy Scouts. He attained the rank of Eagle Scout, served as a camp counselor, and represented the Boy Scouts of America as a Scout ambassador in Norway during the summer between his junior and senior years of high school. More important, Dave internalized the Scout law, lived by its tenets, and passed them along, by example, to his children and grandchildren.</p>
<p>Congressman Lester Johnson, of Wisconsin’s 9th District, appointed Dave to West Point, where he was assigned to Company M-2. West Point was an outstanding fit for Dave’s talents, competitive nature, and sense of duty. He struggled academically at first, but, as was typical of Dave, he never faltered. He worked hard, laughed a lot, and improved greatly.</p>
<p>He also made lifelong friends, as he was to do everywhere he went during the next seven decades. His yearling roommates, Gil Roesler and Rod Ferguson, were the closest of these. Gil, Rod, and Dave shaped each other’s lives profoundly, at West Point and beyond.</p>
<p>Dave graduated as the last man in the top quarter of his class (he never failed to emphasize “the last man” whenever anyone else would mention his class standing) and was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers. Thus commenced a 22-year Army career that took him around the world, including assignments in the Republic of Korea, Nebraska, North Dakota, Kansas, back to West Point (first as a TAC and later as assistant S-3), West Germany, and the Washington, DC area. Dave served two combat tours in the Republic of Vietnam and commanded the “Black Lions” of the 249th Engineer Battalion (Combat Heavy), headquartered in Karlsruhe, West Germany.</p>
<p>In 1961, while assigned as a master’s degree student at Iowa State University, Dave met the love of his life, Linda Carol Willard, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Wake Forest University and an Iowa State faculty member. Linda and Dave were perfectly matched. Dave proposed on Valentine’s Day of 1962, and they were married in Linda’s hometown of Pilot Mountain, NC later that year.</p>
<p>They had three children: Chris, Eric, and Liza. As a family, they took every opportunity the military offered to travel throughout Europe and the United States: skiing in the Alps, sampling the cuisine of Paris, visiting just about every castle in Germany, and, when Stateside, shuttling between Menomonie and Pilot Mountain for summer visits.</p>
<p>In 1981, Dave retired from the Army, having attained the rank of colonel, and he immediately began a second career as the chief of facilities management for the World Bank in Washington, DC.</p>
<p>During the next 17 years, Dave built and led an outstanding team that improved working conditions for thousands of bank employees while reducing overall facility costs and, again, making lifelong friends. Furthermore, Dave became one of the most well-known and influential leaders in the facility management field. Independently and with collaborators, he wrote four books on facility management, one of which, The Facility Management Handbook, is considered the bible of the facility management discipline. Dave guided the development of degree and certificate programs at three universities and was a founding member of the International Facility Management Association (IFMA). He served as IFMA president and was inducted into the first class of IFMA fellows.</p>
<p>After Dave retired from the bank in 1998, he was highly sought after as a speaker, mentor, and consultant. He and Linda traveled widely, including memorable trips to Russia, China, Canada, Germany, and throughout the United States. Dave and Linda were also active in grassroots Republican Party politics, Lutheran Church activities, and many charitable endeavors.</p>
<p>However, Dave and Linda’s most satisfying retirement activities (by a wide margin) centered around being grandparents. No “Grandma and Papa” have ever adored their grandchildren more than Dave and Linda loved their five wonderful grandkids: Stephen and Lauren Eller; and Brendan, Meaghan, and Alaina Cotts.</p>
<p>Dave served as Linda’s primary caregiver for several years, as dementia claimed first her mind and finally her life. Following Linda’s death in 2014, Dave continued to be a leader in his community, began a program to teach English as a second language to immigrants, and thoroughly researched the genealogy of his and Linda’s families. Dave’s last two books, privately published, chronicled the generations of his and Linda’s ancestors, who immigrated from Europe and worked so hard in America to secure a better life for their descendants.</p>
<p>As the shadows lengthened for Dave, he often reflected on the U.S. Military Academy and its influence on his life. He loved his time in the Corps, the unbelievable abilities of the men in his class, the opportunities afforded cadets, the quality of academic instruction, and the military leadership and experience he gained. And, when the time came to cross the river, he departed life having achieved even more than his greatest boyhood ambitions, leaving no task undone, and with deep admiration and gratitude for his family, friends, and West Point. </p>
<p><em>— Chris Cotts</em></p>
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