Bette Cochran Reeves

7/16/1933 – 9/21/2020

Bette Cochran Reeves, 87, passed away at home on September 21, 2020, after an almost 3-year battle with inflammatory breast cancer.

Due to COVID restrictions, graveside services will be held at Memorial Park Cemetery in Columbia MO on Sunday, October 4, 2020, at 1:00 P.M. Please social distance and wear a mask. Everyone who would like to come is invited; this is NOT just a family-only event. We also plan to have a traditional memorial service sometime next year when it is safe to gather, at which event we would love for you to share all your stories and memories of Bette.

Bette was born July 16, 1933, in Smith Town, McCreary County, Kentucky, in what is now the Daniel Boone National Forest of southeastern Kentucky. She was the 5th of eight children of Orville and Lona (Worley) Barnett. Her father was a coal miner and a union organizer, and life under those conditions was a struggle for the family.

When she was nine years old, her family moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan, for better opportunities working in the factories (including Whirlpool) during WWII. Bette was an excellent student, voted president of her senior class and Berrien County Fair Queen. While in high school, an attack of appendicitis sent her to the hospital and inspired her career choice. While her mother encouraged her to apply for a job working in the Whirlpool factory, she knew she wanted a profession as a nurse. After graduating from Benton Harbor High School, she attended a nursing program at Mercy Hospital in Benton Harbor on scholarship, becoming an R.N.

She met Donald Cochran, M.D. when he was a medical intern and she a student nurse in Michigan. After their engagement, during which time Don served for 18 months in the U. S. Army in South Korea, they married in Benton Harbor on June 18, 1955. The couple moved to St. Louis, where Bette worked at St. Louis Children’s Hospital (now a part of Barnes Hospital). In December of 1958 they moved to Columbia so Don could begin his career as a radiologist and professor at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, which had only been transformed into a 4-year medical program a year or two before.

While raising her five children, Bette worked actively in various local organizations, including many years as a Cub Scout Den Mother. In her 40s, she decided to return to college to complete her bachelor’s degree. In 1975, she graduated with honors from Stephens College with a degree in psychology and counseling.

In the fall of 1981, she and other local women started a Columbia chapter of Community Bible Study. Bette served as teaching director for CBS for 13 years, ministering to hundreds of women during that time.

On October 13, 1987, her husband Don died unexpectedly. She felt she would never love again, but in the summer of 1994 she was introduced by a mutual friend to Earl Reeves, president of Missouri Valley College in Marshall and a very recent widower. After a lightning speed courtship, they married on November 5, 1994. Through her marriage to Earl, Bette was thrilled to gain two additional daughters, another son, and many more grandchildren, all of whom she loved just as much as she loved her own.

Both Bette and Earl had a heart for international missions and served as missionaries with Community Bible Study International in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. They eventually traveled to at least ten countries over six years to meet Christians in these countries and establish local in-depth Bible studies in the countries’ native languages and cultures.

Bette was preceded in death by her parents, six brothers, one sister, and her first husband.

She is survived by her husband, Earl Reeves, of Columbia; her five children, Cindy (Jess) Leyva, of Columbia, Don (Sandy) Cochran of Nashville, TN, David (Angela Calcaterra) Cochran of Herrin, IL, Steve (Patricia) Cochran of Austin, TX, and Libby (Andrew) Beauchamp of Franklin, TN; her three stepchildren, Barbara (Ron) Crain of Goltry, OK, Greg Reeves of Columbia, and Carolyn (Gary) McColpin of Tulsa, OK; 24 grandchildren (Jen, Heather, Ryan, Katherine, Quin, Jessica, Ian, Rachel, Kelson, Bailey, Coleman, Luke, Seth, Ellie, Josh, Nathan, Andrew, Natalie, Cara, William, Andrea, Kathleen, Sarah, and Michelle - each of whom she knew individually and loved deeply); and 8 great-grandchildren (with at least one more on the way).

Bette was a devoted wife in two long and happy marriages. She was a loving mother and grandmother who delighted in her large, blended family. She possessed a wonderful sense of humor and was always ready to laugh, especially at herself. She had a wide circle of friendships, many of which she maintained for well over half a century, and she was a mentor and “second mom” to many women. She was a long-time member of Evangelical Free Church (now Compass), and her relationship with her Lord Jesus was deep and precious to her. She had a strong sense of justice, never failing to stand up for what she believed was right. She once asked the question, “How did a little girl from the hills of Kentucky get to live such a life?” She lived that life with a grateful heart and never failed to count her blessings.

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

The family would like to thank The Senior Company, particularly Kari and Elise, and Bette and Earl’s granddaughter Andrea for their loving and compassionate care over the last couple of years.

Because we will not be having indoor services, we request no flowers. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in Bette’s memory to one of the following organizations, all close to her heart:

Community Bible Study International

Ministry Service Center, Community Bible Study

790 Stout Road

Colorado Springs CO 80921-3802

(CBSI on memo line, include Bette’s name, your own, and your address)

Or www.communitybiblestudy.org/donate

The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri

2101 Vandiver Drive

Columbia MO 65202

Compass Evangelical Free Church

600 Silvey Street

Columbia MO 65203

Online condolences may be shared at memorialfuneralhomeandcemetery.com