Earl Ellis Cotner, of Twisp, put away his garden hoe and hung up his fishing pole for the last time. He passed away Sunday, May 31, 2009, from a long and courageous battle with cancer. He was born in Cameron, OK on November 21, 1924, to Harvey E. and Laura June Hoffman Cotner. He was two years old the first time he came to the Methow. His mother had been raised by Frank and Mary Bean of Winthrop, and they came back here for a visit and stayed for two years, before going back to Oklahoma. A few years after the death of his father, Earl and his family left Oklahoma. He remembered that he spent his 12th birthday behind a team of horses plowing a field in Texas; they were working their way back to the Methow and it would take them a year. His mother died when he was 14. In April of 1943, until November 22, 1945, Earl was enlisted in the USMC. He trained as an amphib tractor driver, but spent his time in the Marines as an ambulance driver. He was at Vella La Vella, Guam, Okinawa, Northern Solomons and Guadacanal. He received commendations for his duty there. "Private First Class Cotner served with a Marine medical company and continually performed his duties in a highly commendable manner. On many occasions, he exposed himself to heavy enemy fire in order to evacuate the wounded. Throughout all these operations, he displayed a high degree of courage and devotion to duty." On July 31, 1948, he married Anna McCauley and together they had four children, Harvey, Tom, Laurie and Dave. He and his family owned and worked a 525 acre ranch and a jippo logging operation. It was nothing uncommon for Earl to come home from a long day in the woods and go right to farming, changing water, cutting hay, milking the cow, etc. The man loved to work. Earl could fix anything. He was a whiz mechanically. He was always building something for the kids growing up, tractors, go carts, tote goats. Many will remember the dune buggy that he drove around for years. He once bought a Ford truck and wanted a diesel engine in it, so he bought the new engine and, even though it wasn't made to fit, he made it work. In 1973, Earl bought Smitty's Bar and Grill on Main Street in Twisp and named it the Hoot Owl Cafe'; he owned it for nine years. He also owned the laundromat and showers. For many years, he was a school board member. He belonged to the Cattleman's Association, was a Director on the REA and Chewuch Ditch Co. and the Soil Conservation. On April 3, 1975, he married Tommi Eiffert Peters and helped to raise her two young sons, Kenny and Kelly. Earl and Tommi went on the road for OK Cascade and spent their summers working fire camps, their winters going to Arizona, where they loved to camp and go prospecting. Arizona in the winter is where Earl perfected the technique of "garbage can turkey", much to the delight of his family and friends, who got to share in it each time they all went camping. In July of 2006, his beloved Tommi passed away. Earl has always maintained a beautiful yard and a huge garden that he was always willing to share with family, friends and neighbors. He was always ready to go fishing. He loved the competition of catching the first or the biggest fish. It was very seldom that he was ever skunked. Many of the nieces and nephews who visited in the summers remembered the cooking "uncle" did and all of the vegetables he grew and the fishing trips that always started out with a trip to go dig worms. They remembered that those times were some of the best of their lives. Earl loved the grandkids. They spent many a camping and fishing trip with grandpa/papa.
Earl is survived by daughter, Laurie Buzzard of Winthrop; son, Dave (Donna) Cotner of Winthrop; step-son, Kelly Peters of Winthrop; grandchildren, Ottis (Vikki) Buzzard, Aaron (Emily) Buzzard, Isaac (Tia) Buzzard, Olivia, David, Josh and Allison Cotner and Jesse Leavitt and his family; step-grandchildren, Jesse Lambert, Brittany, Bradley and Drake Peters; great-grandchildren, Gage and Bailey Cotner, Layla and Cooper Buzzard, Millie and Rowdy Cotner; half-brother, Stanley Spencer; half-sister, Faye Cope; sister-in-law, Bernice Eiffert; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; Harvey Cotner and Laura June Hoffman Cotner; siblings, Neal Cotner, Bonnie Bryant and Mabel Weaver; sons, Harvey and Tom Cotner; wife, Tommi Cotner; step-son, Kenny Peters; and
great-granddaughter, Kerris Cotner.
Services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday, June 5, 2009, at the Precht's Methow Valley Funeral Home at 5th and Bridge Street in Twisp, WA. A Graveside Service will be held at the Sullivan Cemetery in Winthrop following the service, as well as a potluck luncheon after the graveside, in the Winthrop City Park. Memorials may be made to Aero Methow in Twisp, Jamie's Place in Winthrop or Children's Hospital in Seattle. Precht-Harrison-Nearents Chapel of Okanogan/Twisp has been entrusted with the arrangements.