Perry Coleman Cotham, age 81 of Brentwood, TN peacefully passed away May 12, 2024. He was born in Wewoka, OK to the late Perry B. and Teresa Cotham. He was preceded in death by his brother, James Harding Cotham.
Perry retired in 2018 after more than 50 years of service in two fields: church ministry and university professorship. In church ministry, he served several congregations as full-time pulpit minister as well as working in other ministry capacities. At the college and university level, he taught courses in communication, religion, philosophy, Bible, history, political science, and ethics. During the course of his career as well as during retirement, he wrote and published many books on a wide range of subjects such as U.S. history, Tennessee state history, Biblical Ethics, Social Ethics and Politics and Christianity. He had an avid interest in collegiate and professional sports and enjoyed riding his bike at Crockett Park and going to the YMCA. His greatest joy was spending time with his family and friends.
He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Glenda Cotham; children, Teresa Langsdon, Michelle (Matthew) Renaldi and Prentice (Jaclyn) Cotham; grandchildren, Andrew (Emily) Langsdon, Margaret (Shane) Polivka, Will Langsdon, Abbi (Colton) Mcginnis, Chloe Renaldi, Ciara Renaldi, Annabel Cotham, Eleanor Cotham, and Silas Cotham; seven great grandchildren; sister, Nan (Edward) Macleod; brother, Harry Don Cotham; niece, Anne Slade; nephew, Charles Macleod.
A funeral service will be held at 2PM Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Williamson Memorial Funeral Home. Visitation will be from 12:00PM until service time. Burial will follow in Williamson Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Graceworks Ministries.
