He was born in Milan to Glennie Reger Cochran and Effie June Brown Cochran. He was married on July 12, 1947 in Marceline to Betty Joan Moore who survives at the home. Other survivors include two daughters, Susan K. DeHaven, Jefferson City; and Sara C. Clarkson, Tipton, Indiana; four grandchildren; a sister, Donna Sloan, Milan; and two brothers, Victor Cochran, Milan and Harold Cochran, Big Fork, Montana. A grandson, Alex Clarkson, preceded him in death. He was a member of First United Methodist Church and the Jefferson City Optimist Club. Memorials are suggested to First United Methodist Church. He was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II serving as a Lieutenant aboard the U.S.S. New Mexico. He was a graduate of Milan High School and a 1939 graduate of Northeast Missouri State Teachers College. He taught biology at Novinger High School for two years, and was a meteorologist with the United States Government Weather Service for thirty-eight years serving in St. Joseph; Lincoln, Nebraska and St. Louis.