J. Dukes Wooters Jr., retired chairman of Cotton Inc. and the first chief executive officer of the organization, died Jan. 21. He was 97.
Wooters became the first ceo for Cotton, a not-for-profit research and promotion company founded by American cotton growers, in 1970.
Tasked with reviving the competitiveness of the domestic cotton industry that was battling the growth of synthetic fibers and fabrics, Wooters led the push to brand and market the commodity directly to the consumer. Wooters was instrumental in the development of the Seal of Cotton in 1973, which more than 40 years later remains a highly recognized graphic symbol for cotton.
At his induction into the American Textile Hall of Fame in 2013, Wooters was credited with the resurrection of the cotton industry by changing how Americans think about and buy clothing. In December, he was honored as one of the inaugural inductees into the Cotton Research and Promotion Hall of Fame.
Prior to joining Cotton Inc., Wooters was a marketing executive at Reader’s Digest. He also served as president of the Eye Surgery Fund Inc. and was managing director of Galen Inc.
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A longtime resident of New Canaan, Conn., Wooters was born in Easton, Md., and raised in Larchmont, N.Y. He was a graduate of The Taft School, Lehigh University and Harvard Business School. He also served in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps during World War II.
Wooters is survived by his wife, Catherine Langdon Wooters, and five daughters, Katherine Sheppard; Joan Wooters-Reisin; Diane E. Wooters; Pamela Chin and Jennifer Goodman, all by his late wife, Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Kirby. He is also survived by seven grandchildren and five stepchildren. He was predeceased by his second wife, Brigitte Schwarzenbach, and a brother, Charles Wooters.