A memorial service is scheduled for April 4 at 3 p.m. in HarvardMemorial Church, Cambridge, for F. Douglas Cochrane, 73, of Canton, alongtime partner in a prominent Boston law firm, who was active innumerous professional and philanthropic organizations.
Mr. Cochrane died at Spaulding Rehabilitaion Hospital in Boston onMarch 17, following a stroke.
From 1953 to January, he was a lawyer in the firm of Ropes & Gray,concentrating on business and corporate matters and becoming apartner in 1957.
The organizations in which he participated actively include theAmerican and Boston Bar Associations, the Massachusetts HistoricalSociety, Greater Boston Community Development, Action for BostonCommunity Development, the Greater Boston YMCA and United South EndSettlements.
Born in Boston, Mr. Cochrane graduated from Groton School in 1937at the age of 16 and was a member of the Class of 1942 at HarvardCollege, where he was a member of the Delphic Club.
A Navy fighter pilot during World War II, he was assigned to theUSS Block Island, which was sunk by a submarine in the Atlantic, tothe USS Saratoga in the Pacific Theater and to other smallercarriers.
He graduated cum laude in 1948 from Harvard Law School, where hewas an editor of the Harvard Law Review for two years.
From 1948 to 1952, he practiced law in New York City and duringthe Korean War served two years in the office of the Secretary of theArmy as an assistant to the Department Counselor of the Army.
During his long career with Ropes & Gray, Mr. Cochrane served onthe American Bar Association's council from 1970 to 1974 and presidedover ABA committees related to corporate law from 1968 to 1980. Hewas a director of the Attorney's Liability Assurance Society Ltd.until 1993.
Mr. Cochrane also served on the Boston Bar Association's corporatelaw committee from 1969 to 1972, playing a significant role in therecent redrafting of the Massachusetts Business Corporation law.
He was president of the Massachusetts Historical Society from 1978to 1988 and remained active on its membership and finance committeesthroughout his life. He also was president of Greater BostonCommunity Development from 1964 to 1970 and an incorporator and boardmember for Action for Boston Community Development for 30 years.
Mr. Cochrane also was active in Canton town affairs, elected tothe town finance committee for two terms in the 1960s.
An avid sports fan, he enjoyed golf and tennis and was a member ofThe Country Club, the Milton Hoosic Club and the Stockbridge GolfClub.
Mr. Cochrane leaves two sons, F. Douglas Jr and Robert Emmet, bothof Canton; two daughters, Ramelle C. Pulitzer of Winston-Salem, N.C.and Rosina C. Maize of Pasadena, Calif; a brother, Alexander ofIntervale, N.H.; two sisters, Ramelle C. Adams of Lincoln and MaryMcKay Cochrane of Boston, and six grandchildren.
