Walter "Whitey" Whitecotton

In the early morning of Saturday, March 6, 2021, our favorite ballplayer, Walter "Whitey" Whitecotton, completed his final trip around the bases in this lifetime. Surrounded by his children at the Paula J. Baber Hospice House in Fort Dodge, Dad completed an 80-year journey that took him from California to Montana to Okinawa to Iowa. It was discovered in late February that his throat muscles had stopped working, and this followed a yearlong battle against a difficult-to-treat knee infection. He chose hospice after the diagnosis. Funeral services will be 1:00 PM on Tuesday, March 9th 2021 in the Chapel of the Laufersweiler-Sievers Funeral Home. A visitation will be 11:00 to 1:00 PM on Tuesday at the funeral home. Private burial will be at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Van Meter. Walter Whitecotton was born June 14, 1940, in Tulare, Calif., to Irene and Amos Whitecotton. He was the last of their nine children and 26 years younger than his oldest sibling. He often bragged about having a nephew who was older than him. Sports played a huge role in his life from his early playing days to his last years as a devoted fan of his grandchildren's efforts. He was a standout baseball and basketball player at Marysville High School, from which he graduated in 1958. He then moved on to the U.S. Air Force, where he served as a military police officer but mostly as a second baseman on fastpitch softball teams. He played on service teams that traveled the world to play in armed services tournaments. After his service days, Walter continued to play high-level fastpitch softball in Montana for several years and freely admitted that some of his jobs in that time came solely because of his ability on the diamond. It was a huge thrill for his family when he was inducted into the Montana Softball Hall of Fame in 1995. He was stationed at Fortuna Air Force Base in Fortuna, N.D., when he met the love of his life, Faye Leidholm, a schoolteacher in Crosby, N.D. They met at a Montana bar just across the state line -- he had been playing in a basketball tournament, she and her teacher pals weren't allowed to be seen at a drinking establishment in Crosby. They were wed June 15, 1963, in Washburn, N.D., and were married 51 years until Faye's death on Aug. 28, 2014. Their lives together included many moves: Great Falls, Bozeman, Missoula, Billings and Lewistown, Mont.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Truesdale, Manson, Meriden, Quimby and Larrabee, Iowa. Shortly after her death, Walter moved to Fort Dodge. Three of their children were born in Montana -- Terri in Plentywood, Lisa in Missoula and Tim in Lewistown. In 1971 they moved to Manson, and daughter Tina was born in Fort Dodge. In 1971, Walter began working for the school fundraising arm of Reader's Digest covering the northwest corner of Iowa, and the family settled in Manson, where he transitioned from player to parent/fan/coach and helped raise four children who carried his legacy onto the courts and diamonds at Manson High School and then into college athletics. He continued being a mentor to his children's children, another crop of athletes who inherited his love of competition. He drove over a million miles, literally, through the years of his work. His two main vehicles during that period each surpassed 500,000 miles before being begrudgingly replaced, and he was almost mythical in his knowledge of every back road and shortcut in that region of the state. He developed many strong connections, none more so than his bond with Bishop Heelan High School in Sioux City, where he spent the first two weeks of every year leading a magazine sale that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years. In October 1985, he took the first step of a journey that changed the course of his life, and his commitment to and support from his 12-step partners defined much of his final 36 years. He is survived by children Terri Wessels of Manson, Iowa; Lisa (Armon) Azevedo of Windsor, Calif., Tim Whitecotton of Minneapolis; and Tina (Josh) Danielson of Wesley Chapel, Fla.; grandchildren Brandon and Bryce Wessels; Elizabeth, Amanda and Anthony Azevedo; and Jordan, Chloe and Carli Danielson; and great-grandchild Beau Wessels. He was preceded in death by his wife, Faye; parents, Irene Hafer and Amos Whitecotton; and his eight siblings: sisters Lois Wilson, Alice Rorie and Myrtle Burchfield; and brothers Charlie, Jerry, Jim, Frank and Alton Whitecotton. Memorials may be left to the discretion of the family. Visitation Tue, Mar 9, 2021 at 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Laufersweiler-Sievers Funeral Home 307 South 12th Street Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501 Celebration Of Life Tue, Mar 9, 2021 at 1:00 pm Laufersweiler-Sievers Funeral Home 307 South 12th Street Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501