Committal services for John Cothern, 80, of Portales, will be announced at a later time.
John Franklin Cothern was born Aug. 3, 1940 in Rich Hill, MO to the home of Mary Ella (McIntire) and William Hyram Cothern, and died on the evening of Mar. 3, 2021 in Lubbock, TX. His family relocated to New Mexico while he was still in school, and settled in Clovis where he graduated from high school in 1958. During his school years he was a starting player on the basketball team. After graduation, he enlisted in the US Navy where he was trained in jet engine mechanics. He became a Crew Chief for the F-4 Phantom. After his discharge, he continued to work on jets for Civil Service at various Air Force bases. He eventually became the Quality Control Officer, working at Holloman AFB in Alamogordo, NM, and Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, TX. Mr. Cothern retired in 1995, and in 1996, he moved to Portales where he enjoyed farming and raising vegetables and fruit trees. He was a gun enthusiast, and enjoyed hunting and fishing, and reloading his own ammunition. Mr. Cothern was also a very accomplished woodworker.
On June 24, 1966, in Tucson, AZ he was married to Maria Aurora Corrales. The couple had two children, a son and a daughter. He was a very devoted husband, father and grandfather. All of his life he was a very hard worker.
He is survived by his wife, Maria of their home near Portales; his son and daughter-in-law, Miguel and Rosa Cothern of Twenty-Nine Palms, CA; his daughter, Mary Cothern of Portales; three grandchildren, Michelle (Malachi) Beaty, Miguel Cothern, Jr. and Andrea Ortiz; five great-grandchildren, Alannah Beaty, Stella Beaty, Isabella Garcia, Jeremiah Rhea and Carlo Thompson; and a brother, Jimmy Cothern of Odessa, TX. He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, William Cothern.
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