Byron Cochrane

Byron Cochrane, 81, a retired architect, died Jan. 15 at his home in Nahcotta after an extended illness. A memorial service was held Saturday at the Ocean Park Methodist Church. Born December 10, 1925, Byron's parents homesteaded in southwest Idaho and he graduated from high school in Homedale where his father was school superintendent. He enlisted in officer candidate school when he was 18 early in WWII, and was sent to UCLA. But as the war in Europe intensified and more foot soldiers were needed, the OCS program was cancelled and he was transferred to the infantry. He was sent to the European theater as a light machine gunner, and earned a bronze star for his role in helping free the French village of Raon l'Etape from German occupation. He was 19 when he was injured in a land mine explosion. He liked recalling how he was sent home on the Queen Mary where the wounded were waited on in luxury suites by Air Force officers. Following his discharge, he attended the University of Idaho, graduating in 1949 with a degree in architecture and worked with an architectural firm in western Idaho before joining the U.S. Forest Service in 1957. He and his young family spent a summer with him on Carey Dome fire lookout in central Idaho before moving to McCall, where he was on the Payette National Forest staff. He designed and supervised the construction of the first smokejumper facilities as well as overseeing improvements to other structures throughout the forest. With his wife Margie and their five children – four of them born in McCall – he looked forward to skiing in the winter and fishing and hiking to high mountain lakes in the summer. In 1968 Byron joined the staff of Housing and Urban Development in Boise, but missed the mountains and small-town life. A transfer opportunity in 1975 enabled the family to move to Alaska. They built a home on a mountainside in Eagle River, near Anchorage. H e learned to cross country ski, cheered for his children who were members of high school and college ski teams, and enthusiastically fished for salmon and halibut. Byron was responsible for overseeing Native housing programs in Northwest Alaska, as well as inspecting construction on projects in Fairbanks and Seldovia, among many others. After retiring, he and Margie began second careers in Hawaii, where they bought a Bishop Estate lease on a seven-acre coffee farm on the Big Island. Having never seen a coffee tree, or picked a coffee bean, this was a learning adventure for both of them. For the next 10 years they grew and sold Kona coffee, as well as avocados and anthuriums. Their home included a workshop where Byron could pursue the hobby he most enjoyed, turning wood. He particularly liked using koa and other Hawaiian woods, and many of the bowls he turned on his lathe were sold in specialty gift shops on the Kona coast. In 1995, when health problems made farming difficult to continue, the Cochranes returned to the mainland to be closer to family members. For the past decade they have lived in Nahcotta. Byron was a volunteer at the Columbia River Maritime Museum and a member of Friends of Willapa Bay. He is survived by his wife Margie; children Becky Ericson, Fairfax, VA.; Ann Nichols, Sandpoint, ID, Cathy Cochrane, Spokane, WA, Nancy Zahn, Toutle, WA, and Andrew Cochrane, McCall, ID; 17 grandchildren; three great-grandsons; and brothers Frank and Jim Cochrane and sister Patsy Spofford, all of the Boise area. Arrangements by Penttila's Chapel by The Sea, Long Beach. Guestbook may be signed at www.penttilaschapel.com.