Eva COCHRANE

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COCHRANE (Greenway) Eva Christina, nee Minaker, died July 31, 2009 in Coquitlam, B.C. aged 104. She was born to Herbert and Daisy Minaker in a sod farm house on their homestead near Frobisher, SK, December 27, 1904. She was the oldest of 10 children and wasn’t sent to school until she was 7 or 8. She helped her mother with the babies. Her fist job was starting the one room school’s fire first thing each morning. Her family moved to her grandfather’s farm in the Glen Souris area in 1917 and she continued to help raise her siblings. When she again started school, she was much too old to be placed in her proper grade, so she skipped three grades and did well. Her dream of becoming a school teacher ended when her father died, so she went to work in Sheuwan’s Department Store in Brandon. Marriage to Bazel Greenaway took her to the farm at Oak River where her first child, a son Robert “Bobbie” lived 13 months and then died in her arms near Christmas 1936. Soon her first daughter came along and the family relocated to North Vancouver where Bazel worked in the shipyards. A second daughter was born. She had indoor plumbing for the first time and life was good. But Bazel yearned for the land he was born to and in 1951 they moved back to Oak River. Eva settled in, raising chickens and turkeys, providing leadership to the local 4-H group and becoming involved with all the women’s groups and the church. She also put her skills as a seamstress to good use, doing alternations and sewing grad dresses. Many a local wedding saw the attendants dressed in the clothes she had made. But Bazel was not well and so they moved to Brandon in 1966. In addition to caring for him she worked in the local hat shop and continued with her dressmaking. When Bazel died in 1970, she moved back to Vancouver to be near her daughters. She filled her life with family and five years later married Bob Hafner, a retired fruit farmer with whom she shared a love of dancing. Bob died in 1983, and she found life lonely again. Then she met a wonderful man, just right for her, but he lived back in Brandon, Manitoba. She agonized over the decision since it meant leaving her family again, but in 1989, she married Bill Cochrane and moved back to Brandon. His family welcomed her and their lives were full until Bill’s death in 2001. With Bill gone, Eva moved back to B.C. to be with her daughters and their families. She is predeceased by her son, her three husbands and eight of her siblings. She is survived by her daughters, Beverley (Raymond) Caron of Burnaby, BC, and Pat (Barrie) Briggs of Brandon. Six grandchildren Michelle Caron, Brockville, ON, Maurice Caron, Surrey BC, Robert Moore, Langley, BC, Erin Moore, Coquitlam, BC, David Moore, Maple Ridge, BC, Crystal Moore, Los Angeles, CA. There are four great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her three step-sons, Barrie Cochrane, Alexander, Neil Cochrane, Brandon, and Murray Cochrane, Grande Priairie, AB and their families and by her sister Dorothy Minaker. There are many nieces, nephews, and extended family members. A memorial service was held in Brandon on Saturday, August 8, 2009 with interment in Oak River Cemetery. A celebration of her life will also be held September 20, 2009 in Burnaby, BC. If you wish, any donations in her memory may be made to the Salvation Army.

As published in Brandon Sun on Aug 18, 2009