Photojournalist, firefighter, Valley legend Edward Cotter dies at 91

 

Ed Cotter, who helped coordinate emergency rescue personnel in the Naugatuck Valley, stands on the bridge near the site of Vartelas Park, a memorial to the Vartelas Family and their three-story The Family Store, that was wiped out in the August 19, 1955 flood from the Naugatuck River near Maple Street . The flood waters inundated and ravaged the entire Naugatuck Valley.  Peter Hvizdak/Register

By Pamela McLoughlin
Register Staff
DERBY — Jim Cotter was 6-years-old and driving in a snowstorm with his dad, Edward J. Cotter Jr., when the car in front of them veered off the road and went into a body of water.
Ed Cotter told his young son, “Wait here,” then proceeded to get out of the car, dial 911 for help, take off his pants and jump into the water to pull the woman to safety.
Saving lives through rescue, ambulance and firefighting was a way of life for the elder Cotter, who died over the weekend at 91. There were many other facets to Cotter’s life, too, as a photojournalist and reporter, but even those had the common thread of being centered on people.
“He was the greatest man and role model anyone could hope for,” Jim Cotter said Saturday. “He was unselfish and gave to others. If he had an hour, he’d give you 59 minutes.”

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