Burton's Obituary
Burton Lee Cochran, 90, a retired engineer of Great Falls, died of natural causes on Friday, October 14, 2022, at his home. Cremation has taken place and no services will be held per his request. Private burial of ashes will take place in Highland Cemetery at a later date. Schnider Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.
Survivors include his son, Barry Lee Cochran and his wife Taffy Cochran; grandsons, Brent Cochran (and partner Christine Twete) of Oak Park, Illinois and Ryan (Betsy) Cochran of Spokane, Washington; brother, Monte Cochran of Canton, Ohio; and his close friend, Bernadine Feist of Great Falls. He was preceded in death by his wife, Nancy; and brother, William Cochran.
Burt was born on November 5, 1931, in Greensburg, Ohio to Horace Lee Cochran and Ruth Overholt. He was a 1950 graduate of Greensburg High School. After graduation, Burt was drafted into the United States Marine Corp, serving from 1951 to 1953. After his discharge, he sailed for four years on the Great Lakes as a Merchant Marine.
On December 31, 1956, Burt and Nancy Ensley were married in Toledo, Ohio. They lived for a time in Greensburg, Ohio where their son Barry was born and later moved to Wooster, Ohio and remained there until Burt’s retirement.
After his marriage, Burt worked for Killian Rubber in Akron, Ohio. He worked days and attended night school to further his education. He eventually earned an Associate of Engineering degree in Mechanical Technology.
His hard work and education led Burt to a position at Manchester Tools, a tool and die division of Warner and Swasey Co. located in Manchester, Ohio. He was hired as a draftsman and production engineer in 1960. Burt worked for Manchester Tools for 36 years and had the distinction of receiving three patents from the United States Patent office during his time there. Burt retired in 1996.
After retirement, Burt and Nancy moved to Great Falls, Montana to be near their son and his family.
Burt was a hard-worker and enjoyed working on his farm in Ohio during his time off. After selling the farm and moving to Montana, he continued to enjoy the outdoors by working together with his son on their land near Monarch. He found great satisfaction in cutting firewood for his wood stove. His engineering mind was always working to make life more efficient by building and improving on many items used in daily life. Burt was a loving husband, brother, father, grandfather, and friend and will be greatly missed by all of us.
