1959
Jane
2015
Jane Cochrane
March 16, 1959 — February 19, 2015
Jane Cochrane (Janie Bird), 55, of Battle Creek, passed away Thursday February 19, 2015. Armed always with a story, a song, an anecdote or advice - and an infectious laugh that still rings in her family and friends’ ears - she took with her a zest for life almost unbelievable to anyone she met.
Born to Marceline and John Robertson on March 16, 1959, Jane grew up in and lived most of her life in Battle Creek. Inspired by her older brother Tim, she spent several formative years in California working the ‘rainbow dogs’ stand at Yosemite National Park (so affectionately named by her for the color the hot dogs turned after spending several hours on the grill). There she made lifelong friends. It was where her worldview was shaped; Jane was religious but not didactic, spiritual but grounded, and above all, the single most accepting person anyone who met her knew.
She had a passion for children, running a home daycare for years, followed by jobs with Pennfield and Marshall Schools and the Little Friends daycare. Jane should have been a detective, though. She had a penchant for getting people to talk. Be it her children who’d ‘broken into’ the cupboard for sweets or new friends who found themselves opening up to her due to her bracing self-awareness and insight, Jane was the emotional center of many lives.
Jane had a passion not only for family and friends, but friends of friends, and their friends too! The list of those she is ‘survived by’ would fill pages of books. In a more traditional sense her loving husband of 30 years, James Cochrane, also of Battle Creek, continues on. She is also survived by her four children and son-in-law, for whom she lived every single breath she took - Patrick, 27, Kellie, 25, and her husband Dan, 26, Colleen, 23, and Tyler, 19. She is also survived by her mother, Marceline Robertson of Battle Creek, sister Linda Darr of Battle Creek, sister Jill Fausey of Battle Creek, brother John Robertson of Battle Creek, sister Mary Grimm of Battle Creek, brother Timothy Robertson of Redwood City, California, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her father John Robertson of Battle Creek, and closest friend Karan Simon, also of Battle Creek.
Some die, and we mourn them with a much more relatable empathy. Others inspire an emotion more like anger, where we feel as if a gift has been taken away from us. Jane falls into the latter bucket, but she lives on in everyone she ever met.
Funeral services will be held 1:00 p.m. Tuesday February 24, 2015 at the Richard A. Henry Funeral Home with Rev. Father Francis Marotti officiating. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Monday. Memorial contributions may be given to the American Cancer Society in memory of Karan Simon and Becky McGriff. www.henryfuneralhome.org
Born to Marceline and John Robertson on March 16, 1959, Jane grew up in and lived most of her life in Battle Creek. Inspired by her older brother Tim, she spent several formative years in California working the ‘rainbow dogs’ stand at Yosemite National Park (so affectionately named by her for the color the hot dogs turned after spending several hours on the grill). There she made lifelong friends. It was where her worldview was shaped; Jane was religious but not didactic, spiritual but grounded, and above all, the single most accepting person anyone who met her knew.
She had a passion for children, running a home daycare for years, followed by jobs with Pennfield and Marshall Schools and the Little Friends daycare. Jane should have been a detective, though. She had a penchant for getting people to talk. Be it her children who’d ‘broken into’ the cupboard for sweets or new friends who found themselves opening up to her due to her bracing self-awareness and insight, Jane was the emotional center of many lives.
Jane had a passion not only for family and friends, but friends of friends, and their friends too! The list of those she is ‘survived by’ would fill pages of books. In a more traditional sense her loving husband of 30 years, James Cochrane, also of Battle Creek, continues on. She is also survived by her four children and son-in-law, for whom she lived every single breath she took - Patrick, 27, Kellie, 25, and her husband Dan, 26, Colleen, 23, and Tyler, 19. She is also survived by her mother, Marceline Robertson of Battle Creek, sister Linda Darr of Battle Creek, sister Jill Fausey of Battle Creek, brother John Robertson of Battle Creek, sister Mary Grimm of Battle Creek, brother Timothy Robertson of Redwood City, California, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her father John Robertson of Battle Creek, and closest friend Karan Simon, also of Battle Creek.
Some die, and we mourn them with a much more relatable empathy. Others inspire an emotion more like anger, where we feel as if a gift has been taken away from us. Jane falls into the latter bucket, but she lives on in everyone she ever met.
Funeral services will be held 1:00 p.m. Tuesday February 24, 2015 at the Richard A. Henry Funeral Home with Rev. Father Francis Marotti officiating. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Monday. Memorial contributions may be given to the American Cancer Society in memory of Karan Simon and Becky McGriff. www.henryfuneralhome.org
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Jane Cochrane, please visit our flower store.