End of Watch:
June 2, 1936
Age: 48
Washington County Sheriff’s Office
Accidental: Medical
Sheriff John H. Cottam died while assisting with the relocation of a heavy safe from one office to another in the Washington County Courthouse.
Sheriff Cottam was lifting on a metal bar to raise the safe into the bed of a truck when he collapsed. Sheriff Cottam died at the scene prior to the arrival of medical attention. A subsequent autopsy revealed that strenuous exertion caused the rupture of blood vessels at the base of his brain. He was survived by his wife and four children and is buried in the St. George City Cemetery.
The bronze memorial name plaque of Sheriff John H. Cottam is sponsored by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.