Cochran Gravestones and Plot Map

Compiled 2026-10-25 for Joel Cochran's family tree, following Joel's direction: follow the gravestones. Scope: deceased people and public cemetery records only. No paid sources, no Ancestry, no library fee requests.

How to read this file

• Verified burial means a funeral home obituary or a cemetery index entry states the burial place. It does not mean a photographed headstone was seen.
• Name-only index entry means a mirror site (PeopleLegacy) lists the name, years, and cemetery address. PeopleLegacy mirrors Find a Grave style data but shows no inscription, no plot, and no family links. These entries are leads, not verified memorials.
• Not found means the searches described below surfaced no memorial. It does not prove no memorial exists. Find a Grave per-cemetery surname search is form-driven and could not be enumerated by text fetch, so a live browser pass remains the way to close that gap.

The cemetery

Saint Joseph Valley Memorial Park

• Address used by the family and funeral homes: 375 W Cleveland Rd, Granger, IN 46530.
• Find a Grave lists the same cemetery at 375 West Cleveland Road, Mishawaka, IN 46530. The ground sits in the Mishawaka / Clay Township area while the postal address is Granger. Both addresses point to the same cemetery.
• Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 199742. Cemetery page: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/199742
• Coordinates: 41.72174, -86.18315.
• Phone shown by Find a Grave: 574-367-7643. Phone shown by PeopleLegacy cemetery pages: (574) 272-6971. The two listings disagree; neither was called.

Plot cluster: the Cochran family at Saint Joseph Valley Memorial Park

No plot, section, or lot numbers were found for any family member. No headstone photos were accessible through text search. Shared stones could not be verified for any couple. What follows is everything the public record surfaced, person by person.

Benjamin Thomas Cochran Jr. (1933-1981) and Jean Ann (Young) Cochran (1934-2005)

• Burial at Saint Joseph Valley Memorial Park is established in the main tree file (~/workspace/family-tree/FAMILY-TREE-v1.md) from the SJCPL obituary index work: Ben d. July 12, 1981, Mishawaka; Jean b. March 28, 1934, d. August 6, 2005, Mishawaka.
• PeopleLegacy name-only index entries at 375 W Cleveland Rd, Granger, IN 46530:
  • Benjamin Cochran, 1933-1981 (aged 48). Source: https://peoplelegacy.com/burial-records/benjamin/cochran/
  • Jean Cochran, 1934-2005 (aged 71). Source: https://peoplelegacy.com/burial-records/jean/cochran/
• Individual Find a Grave memorial pages: NOT FOUND by site-restricted or name search.
• BillionGraves records: NOT FOUND.
• Shared stone for Jr. and Jean: NOT VERIFIED. No memorial photo was accessible.

Benjamin Thomas Cochran Sr. (1892-1959) and Leora Belle (Etter) Cochran (1898-1989)

• PeopleLegacy name-only index entry at 375 W Cleveland Rd, Granger, IN 46530:
  • Benjamin Cochran, 1892-1959 (aged 66). Source: https://peoplelegacy.com/burial-records/benjamin/cochran/
• Sr.'s burial at this park is the family's expectation and matches the index entry above. His SJCPL index record gives his home as 708 Sorin St., South Bend, with Tribune notices February 9 and 10, 1959 (record: https://www2.sjcpl.org/db/obits/recorddetail/rec/320762).
• Leora: NO index entry at this cemetery surfaced in any search. Her burial beside Sr. is expected but rests on family record, not on a located cemetery record.
• Individual Find a Grave memorial pages for Sr. or Leora: NOT FOUND.
• BillionGraves records: NOT FOUND.
• Shared stone for Sr. and Leora: NOT VERIFIED.
• Leora's exact death day in May 1989 and her burial record remain open items (also tracked in the Etter line research).

Betty Jane (Cochran) Reeder (1927-2011) and Max A. Reeder

• VERIFIED BURIAL (funeral home obituary): Betty Jane (Cochran) Reeder, born April 26, 1927, South Bend, daughter of Benjamin and Leora (Etter) Cochran. Married Max A. Reeder on June 1, 1947. Max predeceased her on May 24, 2009. Betty's funeral was December 14, 2011, with burial following at St. Joseph Valley Memorial Park, Granger.
  • Source: Palmer Funeral Homes, https://www.palmerfuneralhomes.com/obituary/Betty-Reeder/services
• Max A. Reeder's own burial place: NOT separately verified. He is expected beside Betty, but no obituary or memorial for Max was located.
• Find a Grave or BillionGraves memorials for Betty or Max: NOT FOUND.

Bernice J. (Cochran) Ricker (1930-2022) and Daniel D. Ricker

• VERIFIED BURIAL (funeral home obituary): Bernice J. (Cochran) Ricker, born April 15, 1930, South Bend. Married Daniel D. Ricker on June 2, 1956. Daniel predeceased her on September 9, 2000. Bernice died January 3, 2022. Graveside services and burial at St. Joseph Valley Memorial Park, Granger.
  • Source: Palmer Funeral Homes, https://www.palmerfuneralhomes.com/obituary/Bernice-Ricker
  • Palmer death notice page, published January 3, 2022, Hickey Chapel, South Bend: https://www.palmerfuneralhomes.com/obituary/Bernice-Ricker/2556437/musical-angel
• Daniel D. Ricker's own burial place: NOT separately verified. Expected beside Bernice.
• Rejected match, do not merge: a Social Security Death Master File entry for a Daniel Ricker born March 18, 1940, died March 27, 2001, with a Minnesota issued number and a Minnesota ZIP, is a different man. Bernice's Daniel died September 9, 2000 per Palmer. Source for the rejected entry: https://sortedbydate.com/small_pages/1940/19400318_1004.html
• Find a Grave or BillionGraves memorials for Bernice or Daniel: NOT FOUND.

The generation above: Samuel E. Cochran and Florence Dell (Carpenter) Cochran

• Samuel E. Cochran: born about 1860 in Georgia, died September 1933 in South Bend, IN.
• Florence Dell (Carpenter) Cochran: born about 1864 in Indiana, died November 6, 1912 in South Bend, IN.
• Burials: NOT FOUND in any of the cemeteries named in the assignment: City Cemetery, Highland Cemetery, Riverview Cemetery, Cedar Grove, Bowman, and the St. Joseph Catholic cemeteries of South Bend. Name searches across Find a Grave, PeopleLegacy, and general web search surfaced no South Bend burial for either of them.
• One strong local source could not be read: the South Bend Area Genealogical Society (SBAGS) Grave's Registration Project lists St. Joseph County graves by surname with birth year, death year, and a cemetery ID number. The G surname file is public (https://sbags.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/graveG.pdf) and shows the format, but the C surname file did not surface through search and was not retrievable by text fetch. Checking the SBAGS C file for COCHRAN entries is the single best next step for Samuel and Florence. SBAGS site: https://sbags.org/
• A FamilySearch Library holding also exists for City Cemetery death records and burial permits for City and Bowman cemeteries in South Bend (catalog listing at https://ldsgenealogy.com/IN/South-Bend.htm). Reading it needs a free FamilySearch account sign-in.

Samuel's other children: St. Joseph County burial check

Children of Samuel E. and Florence per the 1910 census: Benjamin T. (mapped above), Marie L., Albert G., Martha V., Samuel S., Walter E.

• Marie L. Cochran: no St. Joseph County burial found.
• Albert G. Cochran: no St. Joseph County burial found.
• Martha V. Cochran: no St. Joseph County burial found.
• Samuel S. Cochran: no St. Joseph County burial found.
• Walter E. Cochran: no St. Joseph County burial found.

All five are UNPROVEN for burial location. None can be labeled family burials in the county on current evidence. Each may have married (changing the surname for Marie and Martha), moved away, or died before indexed records. The SBAGS Grave's Registration C file is the next check for the brothers; the sisters need married names first.

Expected burials with NO memorial found (explicit list)

At Saint Joseph Valley Memorial Park, expected but with no Find a Grave or BillionGraves memorial located:

1. Benjamin Thomas Cochran Sr. (1892-1959): PeopleLegacy index entry only.
2. Leora Belle (Etter) Cochran (1898-1989): no index entry and no memorial found at all.
3. Benjamin Thomas Cochran Jr. (1933-1981): PeopleLegacy index entry only.
4. Jean Ann (Young) Cochran (1934-2005): PeopleLegacy index entry only.
5. Betty Jane (Cochran) Reeder (1927-2011): burial verified by Palmer obituary; no memorial found.
6. Max A. Reeder (d. May 24, 2009): burial place not verified; no memorial found.
7. Bernice J. (Cochran) Ricker (1930-2022): burial verified by Palmer obituary; no memorial found.
8. Daniel D. Ricker (d. September 9, 2000): burial place not verified; no memorial found.

In older South Bend cemeteries, expected but not found anywhere:

1. Samuel E. Cochran (d. September 1933).
2. Florence Dell (Carpenter) Cochran (d. November 6, 1912).

What would close the gaps

1. A live browser pass on Find a Grave: open the cemetery page for Saint Joseph Valley Memorial Park (ID 199742) and run the per-cemetery surname search for Cochran, Reeder, and Ricker. That search is form-driven and cannot be enumerated by text fetch. This needs a browser-capable session; this research pass could only search and fetch page text.
2. The SBAGS Grave's Registration Project C surname file (sbags.org) for Samuel, Florence, and the brothers.
3. A phone call to the cemetery office for plot, section, and lot numbers for the eight park burials, and to confirm Max Reeder and Daniel Ricker rest beside their wives. Two different phone numbers appear in public listings (574-367-7643 and 574-272-6971); the office can settle which is current.
4. Headstone photos, once memorials or plot locations are in hand, to settle the shared stone questions for Jr. and Jean and for Sr. and Leora.

Search-index memorial hunt (added 2026-10-25, second pass)

Method: the live browser route to findagrave.com failed twice with connection losses, so this pass used web search indexes and page fetch only. Queries run for each person below, in combinations: site:findagrave.com, site:billiongraves.com, quoted name + dates + cemetery, quoted name + "findagrave memorial", quoted name + "Saint Joseph Valley Memorial Park", and general web. Search results from Find a Grave were only generic cached surname-search pages (for example https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/search?lastname=Cochran&locationId=city_77579&includeMaidenName=true) and unrelated Cochrans in other states; no individual memorial page for any of the ten people surfaced in any query. BillionGraves results were likewise unrelated people (for example Gilbert Cochran 1933-1978, Muncie IN: https://billiongraves.com/grave/Gilbert-Cochran/40255052 - not this family).

Results, person by person:

1. Benjamin Cochran 1892-1959: NOT FOUND on Find a Grave or BillionGraves via search indexes. Only record remains the PeopleLegacy name-only index entry, 1892-1959 (aged 66), address 375 W Cleveland Rd, Granger, IN 46530. Source: https://peoplelegacy.com/burial-records/benjamin/cochran/
2. Leora (Etter) Cochran 1898-1989: NOT FOUND on Find a Grave or BillionGraves, and no index entry anywhere in this pass either. Her burial at this park still rests on family record only.
3. Benjamin Cochran 1933-1981: NOT FOUND on Find a Grave or BillionGraves. Only record remains the PeopleLegacy name-only entry, 1933-1981 (aged 48), same Granger address as above. Source: https://peoplelegacy.com/burial-records/benjamin/cochran/
4. Jean (Young) Cochran 1934-2005: NOT FOUND on Find a Grave or BillionGraves. Only record remains the PeopleLegacy name-only entry, 1934-2005 (aged 71), same Granger address. Source: https://peoplelegacy.com/burial-records/jean/cochran/ (cited in the first pass)
5. Betty (Cochran) Reeder 1927-2011: NOT FOUND on Find a Grave or BillionGraves. Burial at the park remains verified by her Palmer Funeral Homes obituary (cited above).
6. Max Reeder d. 2009: NOT FOUND as a Find a Grave or BillionGraves memorial - BUT his burial is now independently verified by a second source. The Interment.net "Veterans Buried in Indiana Cemeteries" compilation (VA-derived records) lists: Reeder, Max A: b. 2/21/1926, d. 5/24/2009, Burial: ST JOSEPH VALLEY MEMORIAL PARK, 375 W CLEVELAND ROAD, GRANGER, IN 46530, US NAVY, WORLD WAR II. This gives Max exact birth and death dates (Feb 21, 1926 - May 24, 2009), confirms he rests at the park beside Betty's verified burial, and adds WWII Navy service. No plot/section is given. Source: https://www.interment.net/united-states/indiana/veterans-burials/records.php?sort=za&page=296
7. Bernice (Cochran) Ricker 1930-2022: NOT FOUND on Find a Grave or BillionGraves. Burial at the park remains verified by her Palmer Funeral Homes obituary (cited above).
8. Daniel Ricker d. 2000: NOT FOUND on Find a Grave or BillionGraves, and no other burial record surfaced in this pass. His resting place beside Bernice remains unverified.
9. Samuel E. Cochran d. September 1933, Indiana: NOT FOUND in any cemetery via Find a Grave, BillionGraves, or general web search indexes.
10. Florence Dell (Carpenter) Cochran d. November 6, 1912, Indiana: NOT FOUND in any cemetery via Find a Grave, BillionGraves, or general web search indexes. The PeopleLegacy Florence Cochran list contains no 1864-1912 Indiana entry matching her. Source searched: https://peoplelegacy.com/burial-records/florence/cochran/

Bottom line of this pass: zero Find a Grave memorials and zero BillionGraves records for all ten people through the search-index route. That is consistent with the park's memorials being poorly indexed (or absent) on Find a Grave rather than proof the burials are not there: Betty's and Bernice's burials are obituary-verified, Max's is now VA-list-verified, and three Cochrans have PeopleLegacy entries at the park address. Closing this still needs either a working live Find a Grave cemetery search for ID 199742 or the cemetery office / SBAGS Grave's Registration C file.