By Jessica Moore

Staff Writer

A 94-year-old Lewisburg woman who served her country during World War II, and her city and its industries for many years after that was named Senior Citizen of the Year by the Lewisburg Rotary Club this week.

Elizabeth "Lib" Cochran was recognized for her lifelong dedication to her country and her community.

As a Rotary member, I was there for the presentation, but I already knew Cochran, and how I got to know her and share her fabulous trove of memories and documents is a story in itself.

A few months ago, I was sitting in a book club at the Senior Citizens Center, and had the privilege of meeting Beverly Little. We hit it off right away. At that time, I asked her if she knew of anyone interesting that might have some good historical stories for the paper. She thought about it for a second, and said "Well, I have the perfect person, she's been a great friend of mine for a very long time. I think you should meet her." She gave me the name and phone number. That afternoon I called and a few days later I went to see her at Village Manor. She had forgotten about our appointment, though, and had gone to visit a friend in the nursing home. She called me that afternoon apologizing and we rescheduled.

Once we finally met up and began visiting, it didn't take long and I just knew she was special. We connected right away. She began telling me about her life and her time in Europe during the war, and then she began to share her memories with me.

Elizabeth Cochran was born in Ohio in September 1919. She graduated from Mercer High School in Mercer, Pa. Her parents are the late Logan Emery Bellamy and Viola Park Bellamy.

Her mother was from the Marshall County area so when Cochran was 18 they returned to Lewisburg. She went to work for the finance office at Camp Forrest in Tullahoma. It wasn't long after that she and her friend Margaret Bryant decided to see more of the world.

She showed me the letters she had sent to her mother at home. Her mother had kept every single one. She still has the postcard from the ship she sailed on ... and even her original ticket. She and her friend Margaret had decided to go together. They weren't old enough at the time to join the Red Cross so when they heard of an opening with the State Department they applied, with a letter of recommendation from Jim Nance McCord, who at the time was a state representative. I was surprised that she still had that. Not long after applying word came that she had gotten the job. She was assigned to the US Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, along with Margaret.

While they were there luckily they didn't see much action, but Lib did survive three bombs being dropped in Paris. This isn't something widely talked about in literature or history, but it did happen and she has letters and first-hand accounts in diaries to prove it.

Lib had a wonderful time in Europe, but it was also a very serious time ... she saw things, heard things, and even celebrated the end of the war. She made lifelong friends and memories that are still with her today.

After returning to Lewisburg from Switzerland in 1947, Elizabeth went to work for the city of Lewisburg as a secretary. She stayed a year or so then went to work for Sam Linton at Linton Pencil Company as his personal secretary. Two years later she went back to the City of Lewisburg to work as one of the office clerks. In 1961, when the city changed its form of government, she became the City Treasurer. She worked for the city a total of nearly 20 years. Soon after leaving the City of Lewisburg, she served as office manager and corporate secretary at Walker Die Casting full-time until January 1999. She continued to work part-time as corporate secretary until fully retiring in 2010.

Elizabeth has been an active member of the First United Methodist Church for years and also kept the books for the Methodist Day Care for many years. She was a charter member and very active in the Epsilon Sigma Alpha (ESA) Sorority, a non-profit service organization for women in business. She and Mary Paul Lasater are the only charter members still living. She is also a charter member of the Marshall County AARP. She has always been very active with the Republican party and the Republican Women of Marshall County.

When she married Henard Cochran around 1953, she became the stepmother to the now late Wayne Cochran. His wife Ruth still lives in the area. Ruth and Wayne have two children Troy and Lisa, Elizabeth's stepgrandchildren. Troy and Lisa both have families of their own.