Henry Lester Cotton
Police Officer

Henry Lester Cotton

Perkins Police Department — Perkins, OK
Illness
End of Watch April 29, 1986
Age 44
Tour of Duty 19 yrs
The Vigil Panel 130 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Police Officer Henry Cotton died from complications of an on-duty injury suffered on March 18th, 1986.

He was attempting to apprehend a suspect when he suffered a groin injury. The extent of the injury required him to undergo two surgeries. He was recovering from the first surgery when he suffered a pulmonary embolism and died on April 29th, 1986.

Officer Cotton had served with the Perkins Police Department for 19 years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and three children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-OK-263558E8
Stewardship
Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw
August 2, 2026
Last updated
August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Police Officer Cotton gave the Perkins Police Department 19 years.
Thank you for your service to the Perkins community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Cotton.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Type Other
Location Perkins, Payne County, OK
Platform Identity ppd.payne.ok.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch April 29, 1986
Tour of Duty 19 yrs
Age 44
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness
Cause Detail Duty related illness

Police Officer Henry Lester Cotton is one of 1 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.

In OK, 21 of 582 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 3.6% of this state's fallen. That is 3.6 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

Perkins Police Department
1
of 1 officers
100% Illness
OK — Statewide
21
of 582 officers
3.6% Illness
Nationwide
1
of 97,772 officers
0% Illness

National Cause Distribution

How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Henry Lester Cotton's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
1 (0%)
Accident
1 (0%)
Illness
1 (0%)
Cardiac
1 (0%)
Undetermined
1 (0%)
Suicide
1 (0%)

How Henry Lester Cotton Compares

Age at Death
44
This officer
Avg for Illness: 47.7 years
Years of Service
19
This officer
Avg for Illness: 18.7 years

When Illness Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Henry Lester Cotton is highlighted in Apr.

Jan
294
Feb
198
Mar
186
Apr
226
May
201
Jun
182
Jul
217
Aug
281
Sep
353
Oct
376
Nov
239
Dec
285

Others Who Wore This Badge

0 officers from Perkins Police Department are honored on badge.nw.