Paula Ruth Cottrell, 88, our beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully in her sleep in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, on June 20, 2026.

Paula was born to Paul N. and Floye R. Faris on February 6, 1938, in Los Angeles, California. She grew up in Bentonville, Arkansas where she attended elementary school through high school. When she was 14 years old, Paula became a Christian beginning a lifelong relationship with her Lord and Savior. In 1959, Paula graduated with a bachelor's degree in bacteriology from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and subsequently moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where she met and married Howard S. Cottrell.

Paula was a homemaker, an avid gardener and gifted artist, and was involved in numerous local gardening and artists' organizations. She loved painting in oil and acrylic paints while listening to opera, watching classic movies and musicals, eating homemade meals with friends and family, reading her bible, and feeding and watching the wild birds and animals that visited her back yard.

Paula is survived by her sons, Curtis Cottrell (Terra), Dale Cottrell, and Bill Cottrell; her grandsons, Cole Cottrell, Chase Cottrell (Shannon), Kyle Cottrell, and Brayden Cottrell; her great grandson, Brody Cottrell; and many other dear family members and friends who loved her deeply. She is preceded in death by Howard S. Cottrell, her husband of 60 years; her parents, Paul Nolan Faris and Floye Ruth Faris; her younger brother John Nolan Faris, and her younger sister Jamie Ann Paddock.

Paula was a stage 4 breast cancer survivor, having been cancer free the last several years of her life. She was a kind and gentle soul who loved Jesus, her Saviour, and who befriended everyone she met. She will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her.

A memorial service will be held at 10:30 am on July 11, 2026, at Anchor Point Church,

6751 Pasilla Road NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144.