Senator William C. Cochrane View All Years

WILLIAM C. COCHRANE

MR. PRESIDENT: Your committee appointed to prepare suitable resolutions commemorating the life, character, and public service of the late Honorable William C. Cochrane of Red Oak, Iowa, begs leave to submit the following:

William Cochrane, son of William and Catherine Brunt Cochrane, was born in Hartford, Warren county, Iowa, on the 10th day of February, 1867, and died at Los Angeles, California, on the 28th day of March, 1941.

When he was five years old his parents moved to Des Moines and five years later they moved to Monroe, Iowa, where he grew to manhood. He was educated in the public schools of Des Moines and Monroe. When he was thirteen his father died and, being the eldest son, he shared with his mother the responsibility of rearing and educating the younger children. At the age of eighteen, he was offered a position with a mercantile firm in Monroe, which he accepted. Seven years later he bought a half-interest in the business, making the first payment of $1,500 with funds which he had saved from his modest salary.

In 1895 he was married to Miss Myrtle Murphy who died on May 13, 1924. To them were born three daughters.

In 1900 Mr. Cochrane joined his brother-in-law, the late Thos. D. Murphy, in organizing the Thos. D. Murphy Company, for the manufacture and sale of art calendars. For the first eighteen years he was sales manager for the company, building up a force of specialty salesmen throughout America and establishing a market for the company’s product in all the English speaking countries of the world. Upon Mr. Murphy’s death, September 15, 1928, Mr. Cochrane became president of the company, and in 1935 he bought the controlling interest in the firm.

He was married on February 1, 1939, to Miss Clara Lou Cowgill of Villisca.

Mr. Cochrane took a deep interest in the community and the state of Iowa. He served on the city council for six years, and as president of the park commission for four years. He served on the committee that established the Red Oak Chautauqua, and acted as its president for several years. He was also president of the Montgomery County Welfare League for a number of years.

For fifteen years Mr. Cochrane was a director of the Iowa Manufacturers Association, and was president of the same in 1921 and 1922. He was also president of the Advertising Specialty Association, a national organization, and in that capacity was its official representative at the international convention in Berlin, Germany, in 1928.

For many years he was director of the Employers’ Mutual Casualty Company of Des Moines, one of the larger insurance companies.

When the United States entered the World War, President Woodrow Wilson appointed him a member of the selective service board of the southern district of Iowa, with headquarters in the State House in Des Moines. He served throughout the war, a part of the time as president of the board. He was also president of the Montgomery County Red Cross during that time, and continued in that capacity until his death.

Mr. Cochrane was chairman of the Montgomery County good roads commission, when the bond issue for the first pavement was voted.

He took a deep interest in politics, being a Republican all of his life. He believed it to be the duty of every citizen not only to vote, but also to work for the political principles in which he believed. He was selected presidential elector for the Ninth Congressional District in 1912 and for the Seventh Congressional District in 1940 on the Republican ticket. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in 1936.

He was elected State Senator from Mills and Montgomery counties to the 42nd extra session, and re-elected to the 43rd and 44th sessions. He resigned from the 44th session because of ill health.

Mr. Cochrane was chairman of the official board of the First Methodist Church, and for 25 years taught in the Sunday School. He was a Rotarian, Shriner and a member of the Masonic bodies.

He is survived by his widow and three daughters, Mrs. Malcolm D. Lomas, Mrs. J. Lyman Turner and Mrs. John L. Crofts; four granddaughters, Mary Joe, Louise and Margaret Lomas, and Joanna Turner, and one grandson, William Cochrane Turner; two brothers, James H. Cochrane of Des Moines, and L. W. Cochrane of Joplin, Missouri; one sister, Mrs. John Gray of Maryville, Missouri. A nephew, Thomas C. Murphy, son of his life-long business partner, Thos. D. Murphy, also survives, as do several other nieces and nephews.

The record of his life above shows a man true in character, democratic in spirit, and an honor to his community, state and nation.

Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Forty-ninth General Assembly: In the passing of Senator Cochrane the State of Iowa has lost a faithful servant and the people a real friend; and we extend to Mrs. Cochrane our sincere sympathy.

Be It Further Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be entered in the memorial section of the Journal, and that a copy be sent to the surviving widow.

K. A. EVANS,

FRANK C. BYERS,

CARL O. SJULIN,

Committee.

The resolution was unanimously adopted.