RE Log - Spring 2024

64 Ransom Everglades LOG SPRING 2024 In Loving Memory John Pierce Cotton John Pierce Cotton, Head of School at Ransom Everglades from 1993-98, died peacefully on Jan. 27, 2024, at his home with family. He was 86. Born in Winchester, Mass., on Nov. 25, 1937, to Dana M. Cotton and Geraldine Pierce Cotton, John was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard College. During his tenure at Ransom Everglades, he engineered a successful capital campaign that brought dramatic updates and expansion to both campuses. The $4 million drive called The Campaign for Ransom Everglades School: Tradition, Vision and Commitment to Excellence led to the transformation of both campuses, providing funding for the Middle School Science Center, (now the Stamps Family Science Building) the upper school Fine Arts Building (now the Linda S. Frankel Visual Arts Center), the upper school performing arts center (now the Lewis Family Auditorium) and the middle school library (the Braman Family Media Center). The campaign also allowed the school to climb out of debt and, for the first time, begin to build an endowment. By the time John departed RE, the school had also finished an upper school air conditioning facility and $600,000 in technology upgrades. John began his career in education decades earlier. After serving for nine years in the United States Naval Reserve where he attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander, he was hired at Colorado Academy, where he taught history, initiated the lacrosse program, and earned a master’s degree in Asian studies at the University of Colorado. In 1969, he was appointed Headmaster of Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, N.H., where he served five years. He was then appointed Headmaster of St. Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, Fla. which met his interest in serving a church-related coeducational school. After 12 years at St. Andrew’s School, John served as interim headmaster at St. Stephen’s School in Bradenton, Fla., and interim headmaster at Francis W. Parker School in Chicago where he was eventually appointed headmaster. After his years at Ransom Everglades, John joined Chancellor Beacon Academies as Vice President for Institutional Development. During retirement in Maine, John volunteered with several local organizations. He hiked, skied, sailed and traveled extensively in the U.S. and abroad. John was predeceased by his beloved sister, Rebecca Cotton Christoffersen and his son Nathaniel C.H. Cotton. He is survived by his son John Cotton and his wife, Toni; his daughter, Sarah Churchill, and her husband, Greg of Ipswich, Mass.; his son Ethan Cotton of Chicago, Ill.; his daughter-in-law Sharon Cotton; his brother-in-law Leif; nephews, Erik, Nils, and Leif Christoffersen and their wives and children; five grandchildren, Carly and Alyx Churchill, Leanna Cotton, Jazmine Foster-Hall, Mackenzie Madison; and one great granddaughter, Evelyn Madison.