HOISINGTON — Alta Ruth Cochrane passed away peacefully on Nov. 25, 2022 in Lawrence, at the age of 98. Ruth was born in Hoisington on Jan. 28, 1924, to Robert Leroy and Mary Alta Peterson. In her childhood Ruth lived briefly in Bushton, Kan., and Galva, Kan., but lived most of her life in Hoisington. She graduated from Hoisington High School in 1942, then from Chillicothe Business College later that year. Ruth was the first woman hired at First National Bank in Hoisington. While working there, she met her future husband, Joe Cochrane, who had joined his dad at the Ben Franklin store. They wed on March 24, 1945, and had four children. 

Ruth was a bookkeeper for Manweiler Chevrolet and Bressler Heat and Air and was a member of Beta Sigma Phi, First United Methodist Church where she sang in the choir, bowling leagues (including local and state championship teams), a pinochle club and several bridge clubs and also an Argonne Rebels volunteer. Ruth also played golf, delivered Meals on Wheels, and knitted baby caps and lap blankets for RSVP. Ruth was an avid traveler and enjoyed trips in the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Caribbean. Ruth moved to Lawrence in 2021.

Preceding Ruth in death were her parents, her husband, Joe Cochrane, and her sister, Carol Seek. Ruth is survived by her four children, Barbara Osborn (Ed) Okmulgee, Okla.; Bob Cochrane (Merry) Dowagiac, Mich.; Larry Cochrane (Alison) Wimberley, Texas; Cindy Swanson (Dave) Lawrence; her sister Dorothy Huddleston, Lampasas, Texas; five grandchildren: Brian Osborn, Derek Osborn, Tina Firgens, Lisa Pflughoeft-Goetz, and Diana Brooks; also six great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Services will be at Nicholson-Ricke Funeral Home in Hoisington on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 11 a.m. to be followed by a short graveside service and a luncheon in the fellowship hall at First United Methodist Church in Hoisington. 

In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be made to Meals on Wheels, Clara Barton Hospital Foundation, or your favorite charity, in care of Nicholson-Ricke Funeral Home, PO Box 146, Hoisington, KS 67544. Notices may viewed and condolences sent at www.nicholsonrickefh.net.

Funeral arrangements provided by

Nicholson-Ricke Funeral Home

P.O. Box 146 

Hoisington, Kansas, 67544

Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, Nov. 27, 2022