Betty Ann Cochran

Betty Ann Garcia Cochran has passed away at the age of 89 after 65 years of marriage. She was born and reared in San Antonio, the oldest child in the family of Liberto (Lee) Garcia and Manuella (Nella) Cisneros and the only daughter. Her father died when she was only 15 years old. Her mother; her oldest brother, Lee; and middle brothers, Gilbert and Albert (Albert died shortly after birth), also predeceased her. Her youngest brother, Anthony J. Garcia, who was born ten years after her, still lives. She was planning to be a nun until her father died. Then she had to work at high school to complete her education and graduate which she did in 1953 from St. Gerard Catholic High School. She then went to work for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company for ten years, to help her mother with her three brothers.

After her two younger brothers graduated high school, they decided to enter the military, one in the Coast Guard and the other into the U. S. Marines. She continued at Southwestern Bell. Betty loved to dance and went to many dances at her school and church night clubs with her friends. In 1958, she went with some girlfriends to a night club that had a live band. An Air Force officer happened to come into the club, ordered a drink and sat down. He then came over to her table and asked her to dance. She accepted and they danced all evening. He later told her that he had come for some entertainment and loved to dance so he looked around after he sat down and saw her and her friends and went over to ask one of them. He was lucky, as she was an excellent dancer. He told her his name, George, and she learned that he was a training officer at Lackland AFB.

Because she was such an excellent dancer, he asked her for her name and telephone number so he could call her to do some more dancing. She gave him her real name and said look up her phone number in the telephone book. He thought it was a brush-off and that her phone number would be in her parents’ names, but to his surprise, it was in her name because she worked for the phone company. When he called her for a date a couple of days later, that started a relationship and in less than three and a half months, they were married.

It turned out that he was on a directed duty assignment and was to be reassigned to further training at the end of the year. He decided to apply for pilot training and was accepted after he passed all tests. He was scheduled to the next available pilot training class, which happened to be in Mission, TX. In February, another assignment to a different school was cancelled, and so they moved to Mission. Betty had become pregnant at Lackland and gave birth in Mission to a baby girl, Beverly Ann. Betty and Beverly Ann continued living in Mission until George graduated from primary flight training and was assigned to Laredo for Advanced pilot training. Since their car had no air conditioning and the family needed to go to Laredo to find a house to rent, they decided to leave Beverly Ann at a childcare center that had an excellent rating. Betty and George drove to Laredo and returned to Mission after finsing a home. When they stopped at the child care center to pick up Beverly Ann, they were told to go to the hospital immediately. When they arrived, they were met by a doctor who told them that in a tragic turn of events, Beverly Ann had asphyxiated. Betty and George were heartbroken. They then had Beverly Ann transported to San Antonio, where she was buried at San Fernando Cemetery.

After that, they returned to Mission so George could finish the last week or so of training there and then moved to Laredo. Betty later became pregnant again. George completed his pilot training and graduated. He then had to go to Midwest City, near Oklahoma City, for transition into the heavy transport he had selected when he graduated from pilot training. While there, Betty was kept in the hospital when she started having pains. The OB/GYN doctor instructed the nurses to immediately have Betty transferred to the primary care hospital in Oklahoma City if she started having birthing pains, because the hospital at the base did not have equipment for premature births. Betty was experiencing pains for six hours while a nurse on duty ignored her. A surgeon came by and told her to get her into the delivery room. The nurse protested that she was not prepared. The doctor said get her in right now because she was already giving birth. Shortly after she was in the delivery room, Kathleen Ann was born and weighed about one pound, 14 ounces. She lived a little over thirteen hours and is buried in a cemetery near Midwest City.

George finished his training there and they were assigned to Dover AFB, Delaware. Before going there, George had to go to survival school at Reno, NV so Betty traveled to Roswell, New Mexico to visit with friends and then to San Antonio to visit with family. After George completed Survival School, he came to San Antonio, spent some time there and then they went to Alvin, TX to visit his family. They then proceeded to Dover where they were advised that there were no apartments or rentals suitable for an officer so they had to buy a house. They found one they liked and moved in. George was gone most of the time after that so Betty made friends with other ladies there. One became a close friend who has remained a close friend since then. Betty became pregnant again after a few months and gave birth to a son, Patrick Steven and then a year later gave birth to a daughter Catherine Ann.

After about four and a half years at Dover, George was transferred to Hickam AFB, Honolulu, Hawaii. When George had time, they went to all the places on the island that were interesting. They also went to the beaches and the swimming pools at the base, and yet, Betty never learned how to swim. When George had time, he took leave and they traveled to the big island of Hawaii and saw the volcano and the tallest mountain in the world among many other things.

After three years there, George was transferred back to Dover. This time they lived on base. George was gone a lot again and had to go to Frankfurt, Germany every six months and stay for two months to fly support for NATO and the UN. The next time coming up for him to go, he asked Betty if she would like to go because he had found an apartment near the base that he could rent for four months. She was ecstatic to have her family together again. He arranged a flight for her and the two children and he flew over before them and rented the apartment. They arrived and moved in and enjoyed their stay. During this period, George took them down from Frankfurt to Heidelburg and then to Munich. After stopping there, they went on to tour Austria, including the capital and largest city there. They then came back and traveled in the mountains where the Sound of Music was filmed. Then over the mountains to Switzerland and up the Zuider Zee to the end and then back to Germany before finally returning home.

At a later break, they took an American Express tour to Madrid and Rome. The family had a great and memorable time. Betty had to return to Dover because it was time for the kids to be starting school for the year. George had to stay behind for another month, but it was worth it.

After George had returned and resumed flying, he was trained into a new aircraft, the C-141. A couple of years later, he was grounded for a sinus infection. While grounded, he was called by the base commander and asked to take over as the Custodian of the Central Base Fund. He agreed and started working there. No more flying, at least for a while. Betty became pregnant for the last time, and had a son, David Brian Cochran. George was excited to be able to watch David grow up, because he had missed so much with their first two.

When George was called and told that his father had less than a year to live, they were transferred to Brooks AFB in San Antonio, TX. Betty was back home. They stayed here until George retired about a year and a half later. During his retirement, they traveled all over the country to show the children what it was and how it looked. She was able to go through every state except Alaska.

Betty was very active in the Catholic church and was a prayer warrior. Her prayers were likely what allowed her husband to survive being in four wars as well as other times. She was very active in their current church, St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church and an earlier one, St. Helena’s Catholic Church. Betty and Geroge were founding members of this church and very early members of St. Mark after she moved nearby. She was a mainstay for the family and a very strong woman in spite of her tiny stature of slightly over 5 feet tall and only 102 pounds.

Betty is survived by her husband; two sons, Patrick and David; and one daughter, Catherine. She is also survived by six granddaughters, three grandsons, and one great granddaughter.

We will miss her very much!

The family will receive friends from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm, on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, at Porter Loring Mortuary North.

ROSARYTUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 20237:00 PMPORTER LORING NORTH CHAPEL2102 N. LOOP 1604 E.

MASSWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 202311:30 AMST. MARK THE EVANGELIST CATHOLIC CHURCH1602 THOUSAND OAKS DR.

Interment will follow in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. The family request that in lieu of flowers please make a donation on her behalf to the Michael J. Fox Foundation at give.michaeljfox.org or a charity of your choice.