The family will be present Monday from 5:00 to 7:00 to greet friends at the funeral home.

Services to celebrate and remember his life will be held on Tuesday, May 31, 2016 at 10:00 AM at Shartel Church of God (11600 S. Western Ave. OKC, 73170)

Memorials may be made to the Shartel Church of God Building Fund, Mid America Christian University or Special Olympics.

A great man left this earth for his heavenly reward on May 27, 2016. Marvin Delbert Cottom was born on February 7, 1941 in his father’s pickup truck on the way to the hospital in Enid.

He was raised on the farm south of Meno that his grandfather homesteaded in the Cherokee Strip Land Run. He graduated from Ames High School in 1959 in a class of 12 students where he served two terms as the FFA President and was a starter on the basketball team that went to the Class B state finals. After high school, Marvin attended Enid Business College where he met his lovely wife, Betty Penner, and the two were married in Fairview, Oklahoma on September 2, 1961. Marvin began his career as a bookkeeper at Republic Supply in Oklahoma City and while there, he was introduced to the Credit Union industry. Thus began his lifelong passion for the Credit Union movement and its dedication to “People helping People.” Marvin was hired by the Oklahoma Credit Union League in 1966 and later served as the Assistant Manager at Tulsa Federal Employees Credit Union. While there, some managers at Western Electric contacted Marvin and asked him to help form a credit union to serve their employees’ needs. WEOKIE Credit Union was founded in September 1969 and opened for business in January 1970. During his 37 year tenure, WEOKIE grew to over 50,000 members, more than $500 million in assets and several branches throughout the OKC metro area. Marvin was a visionary and fought for ground-breaking legislation that would allow credit unions to offer checking accounts to their members; it’s no surprise WEOKIE was the first credit union in the state of Oklahoma to offer these services. Marvin was also active in the state, national and world Credit Union movement. He served as Director of the Oklahoma Credit Union League, Director of the Credit Union National Association for many years and was Secretary and First Vice-Chairman of the World Council of Credit Unions where he helped start credit unions in Central America. Marvin was recognized by his peers nationwide by receiving the Distinguished Service Award for Credit Union Professionals and was inducted into the Credit Union Executive Society Hall of Fame in November 1999. He was revered as a leader, truly embodied the credit union philosophy and has helped countless people realize their financial dreams. Upon his retirement, Governor Brad Henry named April 20, 2007 as “Marvin Cottom Day” within the state of Oklahoma for his service and contributions in the financial industry. Marvin was raised in a Christian home and accepted Jesus as his personal Savior and was baptized as a teenager. Church was very important to him and he was active in the Shartel Church of God where he coached a high school boys basketball team, participated in the Joyaire’s activities and served in many capacities including the Board of Elders for many years. Marvin also served on the Board of Directors of Mid-America Christian University and was bestowed an honorary Doctorate of Management by MACU in May 2011. He was a true lover of sports, especially the OU Sooners where he had been a season ticket holder since 1970, and the OKC Thunder. But most of all, Marvin truly loved his three familes; his personal family, his church family and his WEOKIE family. His best times were when the family was all together. The most special were the bi-annual trips to Dauphin Island, the days spent at “The Farm”, or just being together at the house. Marvin was an amazing man who had a big heart and loved life. He might have been just a little stubborn, but he never complained about the adversities that came his way and he lived his life with grace and dignity. It has been said that Marvin loved everybody and everybody loved Marvin. His family and friends are truly blessed to have loved such a great man.

Marvin is survived by his wife, Betty, his daughter, Cindy Borden, and sons, Darren and Polly Cottom and Steve and Heather Cottom. The lights of his life were his grandchildren: Kyle and Christin Borden, Jandolyn and Blake Overton, Mackenzie Borden, Cody and Kelsey Cottom, Julia Cottom, Savannah Cottom, Summer Cottom and Shane Cottom. His great-children, Kylie and Gunnar Borden, Kaden, Blaze, Raphe and Oakes Overton loved their “Papa Marvin” and his cane was their favorite toy and they loved rides on his walker.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Floyd and Clara Mae Cottom and sister, Martha Cottom and his infant sister, Ruby Elaine Cottom.

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