Marshall County’s leaders said they appreciated the late Jim Cochran’s great work as a journalist and also just getting to talk with him as a fellow resident and friend.

Cochran, 90, a longtime reporter with The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register and writer of the weekly column “The Marshall Memo,” died Aug. 15.

Tom Hart, director of the Marshall County Emergency Management Agency, said he was sad to hear about Cochran’s passing.

“We used to kid each other. He would stop in my office on the way to the commission meetings. “He would ask, ‘Are you going to do anything today?’ I’d tell him, ‘I don’t have time to talk. I’m very busy.’ We used to chuckle about that,” Hart said.

“He would stop in every once in a while, since I’m from Cameron, he’d stop and ask what was going on, and talk a little about Cameron history, and a lot about Cameron sports, whether it was football, basketball, wrestling. We’d have some good conversations.”

Hart noted many people were fans of Cochran’s “Marshall Memo” column.

“He definitely was all about Marshall County, and he was definitely a big fan of Marshall County,” Hart said, adding that Cochran was also active with the Lions Club.

Moundsville City Council Mayor David Wood said he had known Cochran for more than 50 years.

“Jim was always cordial and friendly. While (I was) working as an administrator in Marshall County Schools, he would come and sit down and have conversations and ask questions based on what was happening in the school system,” Wood said. “He was always very accurate and specific, and it showed in the newspaper in the same way. I have the utmost respect for Jim Cochran. He was a wonderful representative of Moundsville and Marshall County in his work for the newspaper.”

Marshall County Administrator Betsy Frohnapfel enjoyed working with Cochran in his role as a reporter. She also just enjoyed talking to veteran newsman.

“Jim was the best. His knowledge of all things Marshall County benefited everybody and him writing stories, and me needing background before I was in my position,” she said. “He always had background and knowledge of the past; he was a great resource. His reporting was second to none. He was detailed and always gave the full story.

“On the other side, he was just a fun person to talk to. He was the most positive, upbeat person I ran into in my job.”

Moundsville City Manager Rick Healy said he first got to know Cochran when he owned K&W Hardware in Moundsville between 1991 and 2005.

“Jim was a regular customer and quickly became a friend. Over the years, we talked often about baseball, a mutual love of ours,” Healy said. “When I left the hardware business and became employed by Belomar Regional Council, my only connection with Jim was when I would see him around town.”

Cochran had retired from full-time reporting by the time Healy had become Moundville’s city manager, but they would still see each other regularly. Cochran would still stop by the city offices to gather information.

“He would often make an appointment for a quick meeting, which turned into a long meeting, because our conversations would drift to other areas,” he said. “His knowledge of the history of the local sports scene created some connections as my dad had been a former athletic director at Bishop Donahue High School, and my uncle was a coach at Bellaire St. John and Paden City. When they were cleaning out the Journal office, he brought me a book that the News-Register had created about St. John football, because he knew my uncle was featured in the book.

“I once asked about old pictures, and the next week, he showed up with some. He was so kind and considerate like that,” Healy continued. “After his move south near his daughter, he would still call and ask for my council reports, so he could include them in the Sunday column.

“I admired Jim’s work ethic, and his love for the Moundsville area. We have certainly lost a champion of Moundsville, and probably the last old fashioned reporter of our time.”

Scott Reager, director of the Marshall County Chamber of Commerce, said Cochran was a friend to him and the community. He noted the chamber wanted to recognize Cochran for his dedication to the community by making him the grand marshal of the city’s Christmas parade in 2022.

“It was nice for him to be on the other side of things, a reflection back on him to show what he meant to the community,” Reager said.”Jim was a super guy. He was very involved with the community, the chamber, county and city.

“He was a friend of mine and was a very dedicated member of the Lions Club. He always wanted to give back to Marshall County. He will definitely be missed.

Marshall County Commissioner John Gruzinskas said Cochran was “a fixture” in Marshall County and it wouldn’t be the same without him.

“He would come to my office all the time, stop and talk about what was going on in the county,” he said. “If it was something he wanted to put in the paper, he would take out the smallest pieces of paper out of his pocket to write on. His stories were always accurate. He was very professional. … That was one of the most engaging things about him is that he always got the story straight.”

Gruzinkas said Cochran had the ability to keep him relaxed during interviews.

“He was very casual. We talked like we were two neighbors. He always put me at ease when interviewing for a story. There’s not too many like him. It was a real privilege to know him.”

Marshall County Commission President Scott Varner described Cochran as a tremendous person. He noted Cochran always had a smile on his face and he was always accurate in his

writing and reporting.

“He was a great reporter, but even more important he was a great person,” Varner said.

John Miller, president of the Marshall County Board of Education, said that Cochran would be missed.

“He was one of a kind, irreplaceable. I told him years ago that I felt we had a friend in the newspaper office with him on the job. He was so good about getting our news about Marshall County students,” he said. “We will truly miss him and his coverage of our schools.”

Miller pointed out that Cochran’s career with the newspaper was a long one, stretching back to when he started as a teenager working as a copy boy for The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register.

“He had a long career and was dedicated to all of Marshall County, and certainly the school system was an important part of his coverage,” Miller said.

Tony Wood, communications director for Marshall County Schools, said he talked to Cochran every day and sometimes multiple times a day.

“I’ll miss our daily conversations about daily happenings, our lives,” Wood said. “There will definitely be a void in my day. He being a veteran reporter in newspapers and me being in TV on air, and a teacher of broadcasting, and communications coordinator in Marshall County Schools, we had a lot in common. We’d talk about old school stuff and new stuff.

“He was the first person I would talk to in the morning besides my wife. I think I was his connection back after he moved to Hurricane (W.Va.). Even the public would ask, ‘How’s Jim doing?'”

Wood said people will also miss reading Cochran’s column.

“He certainly was a cheerleader for Marshall County. He was so proud of all the small communities that make up Marshall County. He loved going to Cameron, McMechen, Sherrard; any place to get the word out about, he did,” Wood said. “He was a special person in my life for the last 10 years. I enjoyed getting to know him, our conversations. I valued our time and the time spent talking to him,” he said. “It’s going to be odd not seeing his number on my caller ID or getting a message from him saying, ‘It’s Bugs, call me.'”