Kathryn S. Cochrane Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Kathryn (Kathy) Simons Cochrane 10/11/1935 - 04/09/2022 Kathryn (Kathy) Simons Cochrane, born outside Philadelphia, PA, was the oldest child of Kathryn Goodall Simons and John Kenson Simons. Her mother introduced Kathy to nature as a young girl growing up in Toledo, Ohio. Her father took her to Michigan football games, Toledo Mud Hen minor league baseball games and other sporting events throughout her upbringing. Kathy and her younger sister, Elizabeth (Betsy) Simons Poehlman enjoyed a close relationship throughout Kathy’s life and created great memories – particularly in their younger years - with their cousins; who live on Maryland’s eastern shore. Upon graduating from Pennsylvania State University (PSU) in 1958 with a degree in landscape architecture, Kathy applied for positions with the National Park Service (NPS) and was told “we don’t hire women for these professional positions.” After working a few years in private practice, she applied once again with NPS and was hired as the first female landscape architect in the Eastern Division. She worked with President Lyndon Johnson’s wife - Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson - to implement a beautification program for Washington, DC. Kathy met her husband, Douglas (Doug) Cochrane at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, VA. They married in Norristown, PA on March 4, 1967. Kathy and Doug lived in Miami, Florida for almost two years before moving to the Mount Vernon area of Alexandria in Fairfax County, VA. Doug worked as a pilot for Eastern Airlines and flew out of Washington National Airport (DCA) and Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) for almost 30 years. Their daughter - Andrea Joy - was born shortly after moving to Virginia. Kathy continued as a landscape architectural consultant - off and on - for several years. She started taking watercolor lessons in the 1980s and became an accomplished artist, winning awards at some area watercolor shows. Kathy enjoyed painting nature and landscapes scenes as well as dance and track and field. Kathy was active in the Presbyterian church and extremely passionate about caring for God’s creation. She developed a Creation garden at Heritage Presbyterian Church and taught numerous Sunday school classes throughout her life about caring for the earth. She was always concerned about climate change and how humans were impacting nature and wildlife. She was a philanthropist - giving generously to charities that advocate/educate for the environment and its protection, as well as community and social justice causes. Kathy was an avid reader and constantly learning. She enjoyed going to the National Symphony and other musical and dance performances. One of Kathy’s other passions was college football and basketball. On many Saturday afternoons in the fall, she could be found watching PSU football and it was quite common to hear her coaching (ahem..yelling) from the couch. Kathy impacted so many people throughout her life and we are thankful for the time we got to share in her tenacity, passion, love and commitment to people and the planet.

Tributes

Kathryn S. Cochrane

October 11, 1935 - April 9, 2022