Gladys Perkins Cochran

Birth date: Jun 3, 1930 Death date: Jun 13, 2019

Gladys Perkins Cochran was born June 3, 1930 to Clara and Berle Perkins in Owens, Texas. She was the youngest of five girls, all of whom preceded her in death. She married Willard J Cochran on May 15, 1948. They were married 49 ye Read Obituary

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Jay Prasifka

355w ago

pt. 2
to a frazzle on this. Of course, Dad helped in these activities.
Gladys, Sports Enthusiast
Beginning with my pitiful basketball career in Ross, Texas, mom and dad were always at our games. You could see and hear them courtside for the next numbers of years, following daughters through their basketball careers, with great enthusiasm and support.
Gladys, Professional
Mother frequently accomplished all of her home duties while carrying a full-time job. I always felt that she was successful and valued as an employee. Her last job was an Executive Assistant at Dealer’s Electric Company. She kept all those guys organized and was a valued member of the team, in today’s vernacular.
Gladys, Christian
Mother got four girls in the car each week to go to Sunday School, GAs, Choir Practice, Wednesday night and Sunday Services and all the logistics that accompanied this. We all had our bath and hair rolled on Saturday night and studied our Sunday School lesson before going to bed. It was some chore to get all that prepared each week after our cleaning the house on Saturday morning (did I mention the pile of ironing to do?) and working outside with Dad’s projects on Saturday afternoon. I remember the spit-baths on our faces as she inspected us on the way…
Gladys, Wife
After my mom and dad married, they bought a new little house on the GI Bill on the edge of town where builders were constructing neighborhoods for the market at that time. It was a nice little house. Mom took great pride in it. I can still see her on her hands and knees, waxing the new hardwood floors… My dad had a longing for some land in the family tradition and they bought an 86-acre tract outside of Waco, Texas that had a tacky little house constructed of second-hand lumber during the depression. I know that she hated that house. But he said they could build a house later… She really worked on that little house, putting up wallpaper, which was the main thing that kept the wind out, replacing the siding with some pinkish asbestos siding, and keeping the near one-acre yard trimmed and tidy. And she was waiting for the day that they could replace it with a nice new house… He had other plans and dreams around race horses and cows and hay-baling and so on, and she always came around to supporting him. I remember every night that I slept in that little house, with the bedrooms right next to each other that he would pat her on the bottom five pats, loudly enough to hear, and tell her good night. (Heaven only knows how they managed to have sex in such proximity to four daughters.) It was like the Waltons on TV, with the good night ritual… Not so very long after Dad got his Civil Service job, there began to be rumors of closing Connally AFB where he worked, and they didn’t start building that little house. Eventually they moved to Austin for a newer, bigger house and another civil service job. He lost his precious stallion Reed, and his land and she got a real house. She was one strong lady who followed her man.
This is a smidgen of the life that Gladys fashioned and executed for us along with my father, of course. But she carried a heavy burden which I could really only appreciate in hind sight. Speaking for myself, I am grateful that I reached the place in my life that I could see my parents with perspective, forgive all their imagined shortcomings and appreciate the people that they were for each other and for us… Thank God for Gladys and Willard Cochran and the life they gave us.

Jay Prasifka

355w ago

Living Rich With Gladys Cochran
Recently, I was discussing retirement with a friend. I said I hadn’t saved as much money as I should have, etc. He said his father always said, it isn’t important to be rich, but to live life as if you are rich. Gladys Cochran began that life for her daughters. Her vision was clear, her standards were high and she always did the most with what she had. Looking back, I think that the only thing missing was perspective. I see things more clearly now…
Gladys, a Gourmet—
Having learned a lot about food and eaten at some very fancy restaurants in the cities I have visited for work and vacation, I can say that Gladys was a gourmet. I wonder how she knew so much about food as she only had the one Better Homes and Gardens cookbook that I remember. Even when she was working, we had a hot meal every night. We had a salad, home grown vegetables, a meat dish with some gravy, which I now call sauce and hot biscuits, rolls or cornbread with home-churned butter, which I wouldn’t eat, and usually a desert. There was infinite variety in the cuisine, more than I offered my own family in later years…
Gladys, a Tailor
Most of our clothes were bespoke, meaning made for a particular customer or user. My mind always goes back to the beautiful white dress that she made for my eight grade graduation. She chose a lovely piece of white-on-white embroidered fabric and fashioned a tucked empire bodice with puffed sleeves that displayed the fabric so nicely. She let me choose a pair of white heels with little strands of colored thread woven through which gave just a hint of color. That dress was special, but she managed to dress four daughters in their own custom-tailored wardrobe for whatever special event took place through the years. She took great care to make sure that things were stylish and fit properly even with the remake of hand-me-downs.
Gladys, Arts and Craft Person
She is known for her bespoke clothing, but she also designed and made quilts and other items… Crochet, knit, quilt – she was very talented and tidy and tenacious. She didn’t have a big budget or a craft room, for the most part. She made quilts in her later years for each of her daughters and grandkids. I couldn’t imagine executing such a project to completion.
Gladys, Activities Director
The activities were not always her choice but she pitched in mightily. When our dad wanted to join the Elm Mott Riding club, my mother, the tailor, designed some shiny bell-bottom pants with fancy appliqued yokes on them and western shirts with the riding club embroidered on the back. We rode in the local rodeo parade and hauled those horses and ponies all around the area. She made sure that each of us had our choice of birthday cakes, which was no small feat with three birthdays in August. She lit the candles and hoped for our joy each year. When dad had a professional school to attend in Biloxi, Mississippi, she packed up the family and we rented a beach house for several weeks. Gladys, the Gourmet, bought pounds of shrimp and presented an abundance of boiled shrimp, and accompaniments. I think we mostly turned our noses up at them. How did that West Texas woman know about boiled shrimp? We ate at a fancy restaurant there and I remember how I loved the green goddess salad dressing to this day. Dad hauled the boat to Mississippi and I was not present to witness one of the tires coming off the trailer and passing the car. I don’t remember exactly whether the boat made it to the destination, but we had fun with the boat in other outings, not the least of which was our family reunion.
Annually, as we made our trek to the family reunion, she organized, made desserts and hauled food to the lake to combine with the rest of the Activities Directors in our extended family, a tradition that is ongoing today--all while trying to keep four daughters organized and dressed for the occasion and all the camping gear in order. She worked herself to

Don Mimms

355w ago

I remember "Aunt Gladys" as someone who placed a high value on maintaining family connections. I will always be grateful that she reached out to me many times over the years, treating me as if I were an important part of her life. Her death marks the end of a generation, the closing of a vital chapter in my family's history. I will miss her more than I have ever been able to say. -- Don (Eldon) Mimms, son of Gladys' sister, Doris Perkins Mimms