LONGTIME WRITER, HISTORIAN DIES; KATHERINE JANE HINCHEY COCHRAN

Katherine Cochran, longtime writer, artist and historian, died Saturday. She was 87.

Friends remember a woman dedicated to preserving history and looking for the bright side of life.

"She wanted everyone to see a regal Southern lady," said Judy Schuch. "But she had a little spitfire in her."

Cochran grew up in St. Louis and spent most of her years locally living in Jackson. For the past five years she had lived at the Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau, where Schuch works.

Schuch said Cochran always saw the positive side of situations.

"Whenever something bad would happen to her, she would roll her eyes and then say, `It's so good to be alive.'

"I shall truly miss that lady," Schuch said. "She taught me to look past the little things and see the big things. Now, when things happen to me, I say, `Oh, it's so good to be alive.'"

In 1964, Cochran began writing newspaper and magazine about history.

For many years she wrote a weekly column for the Southeast Missourian, "The River City of Cape Girardeau and Its Environs, by K.J.H. Cochran."

Jean Bell Mosely, longtime fellow columnist for the Southeast Missourian, said, "She certainly knew her craft. Everyone enjoyed her historical columns she had in the paper for many years. We all marveled at how she could do all this reference work and come up with a good column every week."

In her monthly columns in Tipoff magazine, Cochran wrote of outings to Forest Park Highlands in St. Louis, and a childhood trip to the harness races at the Southeast Missouri District Fair while visiting relatives in Cape Girardeau.

She wrote lovingly of her father, Augustus Stephen Hinchey, who read the Sunday funnies and told bedtime stories to her and her brother Paul.

As a child, Cochran wrote, she learned to greet each day just as Rebecca, the woman who came to do her family's laundry, had taught her.

They'd raise their arms skyward and say, "Good morning world. Lord, thank you for this day."

Cochran wrote: "Although I'm an adult, I continue to greet each day `the Rebecca way.'"

Mary Blue, a close friend for 20 years and another fellow columnist, said Cochran loved history and history in the making.

"She was a newspaper clipper," Blue said. "She clipped everything from the newspaper."

Cochran was in the process of making a scrapbook for the Limbaugh family, and had clipped hundreds of articles mentioning the Limbaugh name.

Karen Murphy, her paid companion for the past four years, would take her to do some work at her house in Jackson from time to time. "She had one room full of newspapers," Murphy said.

She was also in the process of collecting information to write a history book for the SEMO District Fair.

Cochran was a watercolor artist and exhibited her paintings for many years at the Southeast Missourian's annual art exhibit. Her favorite subjects were landscapes and historical sites. She also studied watercolor with James Godwin Scott during his workshops in Cape Girardeau.

Her grandfather, William James Hinchey, was a well-known Irish-born Missouri artist. His most famous painting was "Dedication of the Eads Bridge, July 4, 1874," but he made his living primarily from portrait painting.

Cochran authorized exhibitions of her grandfather's works at the St. Louis Art Museum, and museums in Kansas City and Washington D.C.

She was born Feb. 10, 1907, the daughter of A. Stephen and Eugenia Allard Hinchey.

She attended Grover Cleveland High School in St. Louis and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis.

On Aug. 20, 1931, she married Lee G. Cochran. They lived in Jackson for many years. He preceded her in death Aug. 11, 1992. They had no children.

Her brother, Paul W. Hinchey, died May 6, 1994.

She is survived by a friend, Elizabeth Holloman of Ironton.

She was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson and attended First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau.

Funeral service will be held Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel with Dr. Charles Dreyer officiating. Burial will be in Lorimier Cemetery.

Friends may call Tuesday from 9 to 11 a.m. at the funeral home.