Hugh Lee Cotton III, of Tampa, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family June 7, 2009, after a brief fight with pancreatic cancer. He was born in Charleston, S.C., 52 years ago, grew up in Orange Park, Fla., and graduated in 1979 with a degree in civil engineering from The Citadel. Hugh was an outstanding professional engineer and project manager for several major engineering companies in the Tampa area. His design and project management of the Garfield Street Community & Parking Garage in Hollywood, Fla., earned an International Parking Award of Merit from the International Parking Instutute. He was also honored for his work on The Historic Downtown Parking Facility and Visitor Center in St. Augustine, Fla. His expertise has been used on Westshore Plaza Parking Structures, Tampa International Airport’ s long term garage, Channel 28 studios and office building, Rooms-To-Go warehouse, parking garages at the University of Florida and Georgia Institute of Technology and the cooling towers at Anclote Power Plant. Hugh was a registered professional engineer in the states of Florida and Missouri. He was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Hugh and his son, Stephen, shared many activities together, including golf, baseball and camping. Hugh also enjoyed, scuba diving, soccer, woodworking, travel, water skiing, baseball, snow skiing, fishing, target shooting and painting. Hugh spent many hours volunteering at the Spring of Tampa Bay, Habitat for Humanity, Hands On Tampa and coaching Little League baseball. He supported a special-needs Boy Scout/Explorer troop by volunteering on weekend and week-long camping trips in St. Louis, Mo. Hugh was preceded in death by brother, Ray, and mother, Shirley (Cockcroft). He is survived by son, Stephen Cotton; father, Hugh Cotton Jr.; longtime devoted life partner, Mari Heida; sisters and their families, Laura Bebb (Ed) and Alex and Tony, Sarah Koebley (Scott) and Sean, Samuel and Shelby, and Rachel Wright (Lee) and Shannon and Jacob; and foster brother-in-law, Blake Heida. “Forever in our hearts.” A memorial gathering will take place 6-8 p.m. Thursday, June 11, at Blount & Curry Funeral Home, 605 S. MacDill Ave., Tampa. A funeral service will take place at 4 p.m. June 13 at HighPoint Community Church, 84 Knight Boxx Road, Orange Park, Fla. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The American Cancer Society, 2006 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, 33606 or LifePath Hospice, 3010 W. Azeele St., Tampa, 33609. Please sign the guest book at www. blountcurrymacdill.com. Tags: 1979
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