Rose Clayton Cochran

Visitation is Monday, December 15 from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at Parkway Funeral Home, at 1161 Highland Colony Parkway in Ridgeland. Services are at 11:00 am on Tuesday, December 16 at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Jackson, with visitation at 10:00 am in the Parish Hall. There will be a 4:00 pm burial in New Albany, MS.

Rose Clayton was born in Memphis, TN, on December 28, 1940, to Hugh N. and Cathryn Rose (Carter) Clayton. She grew up in New Albany, where she was a member of First United Methodist Church, a National Merit Scholar semi-finalist, and President of the Student Body and Most Beautiful at New Albany High School. She made her debut in Jackson with the Debutante Club of Mississippi and graduated from the University of Mississippi, where she was an English and Spanish major in the Honors College and Rush Chairman for Chi Omega sorority. After studying for a year at the University of Madrid, Spain, she married William Thad Cochran on June 6, 1964.

She taught Spanish and English at Oxford High School for one year before the couple relocated to Jackson, where Mrs. Cochran was a member of St. Andrew’s and a case worker for the Welfare Department, as well as being active in the Junior League. Her children, Thaddeus Clayton Cochran and Katherine Holmes Cochran, were both born at St. Dominic’s Hospital. The family moved to northern Virginia when Mr. Cochran was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. In D.C., Mrs. Cochran worked with the American Red Cross, the Senate Wives Club, the American Cancer Society, the Pen/Faulkner Gala, the International Club Number 1, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was employed as a management analyst with the U.S. Army’s Printing and Publications Command for eight years, and one of her proudest accomplishments was sponsoring the Navy’s USS Barry (DDG 52). Mrs. Cochran was a longtime supporter of the American Humane Society, the Smithsonian Museums, and the National Zoo. She was particularly devoted to the University of Mississippi Friends of the Library.

Rose Clayton Cochran loved her family, New York Times crossword puzzles, genealogical research, music, tomato sandwiches, British history, gardening, detective novels, bargain shopping, and cats. She was considered one of the most witty, beautiful, intelligent, and charming women in Mississippi, Washington, D.C., and the numerous international locales to which she traveled. She will be missed by her husband Thad, her daughter Kate, her son Clayton, her daughter-in-law Clara, her three grandchildren Sam, Thaddeus, and Lizzie, and many dear friends. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Mississippi Animal Rescue League or the Friends of the Library at the University of Mississippi.