Funeral services will be held at 11AM on Friday, March 29, 2024, from the chapel of the Taylor Funeral home, with Bro. William Gray officiating. Visitation will be held on Thursday, March 28, 2024, from 2PM until 8PM and on Friday, beginning at 9AM until the time of service. Burial will follow in the Smith Cemetery in McEwen, TN. To view her service, Friday at 11:00AM, click HERE.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to: Smith Cemetery Fund, Turner-Johnson Cemetery Fund, Baker’s Gap Baptist Fund, or Samaritan’s Purse-Operation Christmas Child.
Mable Katherine Smith Cochran entered into the presence of her Lord and Savior on March 23rd, 2024, at her home in McEwen, TN surrounded by her children. Her family takes solace in knowing that she is currently with Jesus Christ, no longer suffering with dementia and cancer in her 86 year old earthly body.
Mable was born to the late Clyde Raymond and Agnes Lorene Turner Smith in McEwen, TN on June 10th, 1937. Mable was the fourth of eight children raised on the Smith family farm on Mount Zion Road. She learned a strong work ethic clearing trees from their farm land, growing gardens, raising livestock and working in hay. She and her sisters picked blackberries during the summer and sold them for $1 a gallon to raise money to help buy their clothes. Her father owned a blacksmith shop where he produced horseshoes, pokers and farm equipment. Her job was to turn the wheel to keep the fire burning hot. She and her sister Page played basketball at McEwen High School and had to walk six miles to school if they couldn’t hitch a ride. They were always thankful when their principle Byram Phy would drive them home.
A graduate of McEwen High School Class of 1956, Mable had her eyes on the future. She moved to Nashville, TN to begin working at Werthan Bag Company in East Nashville. Mable married Reece Cochran on Wednesday, December 23rd, 1959, in Nashville, TN. She and Reece worked in Nashville and had their first three children, Penny, Janice, and Jessica before buying land from her parents and building a home in 1968 where they were blessed with Wesley and Les. She was a home maker raising their children while Reece worked and was a bi-vocational pastor. They were married 62 years before he departed to his new home in Heaven.
Mable repented of her sins and accepted Jesus into her heart in 1974. She would say there is nothing in the world more important than trusting in and knowing the Lord Jesus. One of her favorite verses was “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the father, but by me John 14:6”. She always sang hymns while doing her daily chores. She faithfully worked in the church side by side with her husband Reece when he surrendered to the ministry. She helped him in ministering to the sick and impoverished, delivering food boxes, clothes, and shoes. She tried to make sure that necessities were met even if she had to sacrifice to fill it herself. Anytime there was a need in the church Mable stepped up to help whether it was planning and teaching Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, an Easter program, or Christmas program. She always assembled Operation Christmas Child boxes. She loved WMU conventions and mission trips with First Baptist Church White Bluff taking supplies to Cawood, KY. She went with the TN Disaster Relief Team to help in Gulfport, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.
Mable loved her family, siblings, nieces, nephews, and her church family. Her grandchildren were her pride and joy. She loved to tell everyone about Jesus and prayed with and for anyone with spiritual or physical needs. She was loved by many that considered her their second mom. We will all miss her smiles, laughter, and hugs.
An avid gardener, she worked hard every year to raise a vegetable garden and also made sure to take the time to keep her flower gardens weeded. She would freeze and can vegetables all summer so her family would have plenty to eat. She would stock the shelves in her basement with row upon row of canned vegetables. She also would give the surplus of vegetables from her garden to friends, neighbors, and family to ensure those around her had plenty to eat.
Mable loved to travel. She went on many trips to visit family in East Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. Many of the trips she took were in relation to her research of family genealogy. She began studying and researching her family history in 1979 and took many trips to libraries and court houses reviewing marriage records, land tax records, census records and newspapers to trace her lineage. She also took several trips with her cousin Retha. They visited western states and into Canada. She loved trips to the beach and picking up seashells.
Mable is survived by two daughters, Penny Norville (Tim) of Bartlett, TN; Jessica Daniel (Rick) of La Vergne, TN; two sons, Wesley Cochran of McEwen, TN, and Les Cochran (Lisa) of Clarksville, TN. Eight grandchildren: Justin Hill, Robert Norville, Michael Norville, Daniel Norville, Grayden Cochran, Zadie Cochran, Kaylee Cochran and Wheston Cochran. Sisters: Page Holt, Adgil Howell, Bonnie Himes (Ronnie) and Helen Thomas
Mable is preceded in death by her husband, Reece Cochran; daughter Janice Elaine Cochran; her parents: Clyde & Agnes Smith; her brothers Herbert Leon Smith, Joseph Charles Smith Sr and Paul David Smith; sister-in-law Bettye Wheeler Smith; brothers in law Raymond Gene Howell Sr and James William Thomas Sr; and niece Lucinda Smith Osborn
