Emma Alice Cottingham Passailaigue died Wednesday, February 4, 2026. She was born in Rome, Italy, on May 15, 1933, firstborn child of the late Emma Corsi Henson and Llewellyn Lafayette Henson, Jr. After graduating from high school in Charleston and briefly attending the College of Charleston, Emma married her beloved husband, John Benjamin Cottingham, Jr., who was then a second lieutenant in the United States Army. They were wed on Sullivan’s Island, S. C. in 1954.

Emma traveled extensively in and outside the United States and relished her life as an Army officer’s wife. After some years of practice she became accomplished as a self-taught culinary artist and hostess. She volunteered throughout her years as an Army wife and loving mother at Army Community Service, visiting and mentoring young wives, and teaching Italian cooking classes.

When she and her husband John retired in 1983 to the Isle of Palms, Emma worked at the Charleston Public Library, became a member of the Isle of Palms Garden and Exchange Clubs and worked as a substitute teacher at Christ our King Stella Maris School in Mt. Pleasant. Emma was a woman of many talents: she decorated, painted, crafted ceramics, gardened, knitted and created clothes for herself and her children. She was a proficient photographer, known to constantly be looking for the perfect, candid picture with a camera or iPad in hand. Emma’s greatest pleasure was planning, creating menus, cooking and warmly welcoming her many loved ones, both friends and family, to her home for elaborate dinner parties.

After John’s death in 2002, Emma later married LTC (Ret.) Edward (Dutch) Perry Passailaigue, Jr. in 2010. They lived in Cumming, Georgia, and moved in 2011 to split their time between a home in Belmont, North Carolina, and Emma’s home on the Isle of Palms. Emma continued to volunteer, working with East Cooper Meals on Wheels.

Dutch died in 2014 and in 2016 Emma became a partner with William (Bill) Norman Russell from the Isle of Palms. Emma and Bill traveled frequently, volunteered with East Cooper Meals on Wheels, were active members of Holy Cross Anglican on Sullivan’s Island, the Isle of Palms Keenagers Club, as well as the Isle of Palms Exchange Club. Bill passed away in September of 2020.

Emma is survived by her five children: Alice M. Cottingham of Oak Park, IL; Amalia H. Cottingham of Sawyer, MI; Melissa A. Phillips of Chesapeake, VA; Nancy J. Buchinski, DVM of Lilburn, GA; and John L. Cottingham of Isle of Palms, S.C. Also surviving are four granddaughters, five grandsons, one great-granddaughter, and two great-grandsons.

Plans for a celebration of life will be announced.

Arrangements are by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc., Mount Pleasant Chapel. A memorial message may be sent to the family on our website at www.jhenrystuhr.com.