Joan "Joanie" Cochran Legette

After a four-and-a-half-year battle with ovarian cancer, Joan Cochran Legette (Joanie) left this world on September 30, 2023, and slipped quietly away to her heavenly reward with her devoted husband, Jim, by her side. A lifetime resident of the Greensboro area, she grew up in an active family, participating in many different sports and physical pursuits, with her loving parents, Joan and Tom Cochran and 3 sisters. Camping, Girl Scouts, family beach trips and dedicated church membership and attendance were an influential part of Cochran family life. Summer weekends were frequently spent boating and water-skiing at beautiful Philpott Lake in Virginia.

Joanie graduated from Page High School, St. Mary’s Junior College and UNC-G.

When Joanie met Jim, her sports passion was tennis. He continued to support her in many athletic endeavors, and both believed in staying fit for life. Jim owned and flew several planes for business and encouraged Joanie to learn to fly. She attained her Private Pilot’s License, and they enjoyed many years of flying together.

Joanie and Jim married in 1976, when Jim’s sons, Glenn and Wade, were 11 and 9 years old. She became their full-time mother when the boys were in their early teens and greatly treasured the many wonderful years they have been a part of her life. Joanie is now beloved “DD” to her two grandsons. She and Jim often refer to being grandparents as the greatest time of their lives. The Legette family spent 15 years living the “country life” in Summerfield, NC. Their 33 acres allowed Joanie to pursue her love of gardening, an interest she enjoyed all of her life. A lifetime lover of learning, when a subject piqued her interest, she took courses at UNC-G and GTCC, to expand her knowledge. Joanie enjoyed participating in several women’s groups, including Bible Study Fellowship, Junior League, garden club, study and lecture clubs and bridge groups. Her most enduring group is 13 friends, the GPAs (Greensboro Prayer Angels), most of whom she’d known since kindergarten! Now scattered, these friends have maintained close connections through the internet, loving, comforting and praying for each other over the years. Although raised in the Episcopal Church, as an adult Joanie became an active, loyal member of First Presbyterian Church and participated in many programs and volunteer opportunities, greatly enriching her faith and life.

After 2 years of surgery and chemotherapy treatments for her ovarian cancer, Joanie joined a charitable organization, She ROCKS, whose mission is to bring awareness and attention to ovarian cancer through outreach, funding groundbreaking research and helping patients who are undergoing treatment in the community. Through God’s grace and the caring volunteers of She ROCKS Joanie found a purpose: to speak at Ovarian Cancer Awareness Events, which are dedicated to helping women detect this dreadful disease at an earlier stage and giving them a fighting chance to survive.

Throughout her illness, Joanie was so touched and grateful for dear friends who brought her meals, flowers, sent cards and kind notes, encouraged her with texts and emails and took her to the Cone Cancer Center. These faithful friends and many others she did not even know, across the Southeast, continually and devotedly lifted her up in prayer.

Joanie was predeceased by her parents, Joan Hunt Cochran and Thomas Rosser Cochran, Jr.; sister Sally’s husband, Charles C. Wilson; and her Aunt Kay Hunt Henson Youngblood. Joanie is survived by her husband of 47 years, James Foxworth Legette (Jim), her stepsons, Glenn H. Legette and J. Wade Legette (Ann) and grandsons, D. Wade and Jim P. Legette; her sisters, Sally C. Wilson, Deborah C. Proctor (Steve), Ann C. Culley (Dave) and her dear Aunt Cammie Hunt Bell (John), Curt Youngblood and many beloved cousins, nieces, nephews and grand nephews. All will miss her dearly.

A private family inurnment will be held prior to the service in the First Presbyterian Church Columbarium. The service and celebration of Joanie’s life will follow at 2:00 PM, Friday, October 6, 2023. The family will greet friends afterwards in the Redhead Hall at the church.

In lieu of flowers, Joanie and her family request memorials be made to:

She ROCKS

Research Ovarian Cancer Knowledge Support

P.O. Box 4163, Greensboro, NC 27404

or

First Presbyterian Church, 617 North Elm Street, Greensboro, NC 27401

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.haneslineberryfhnorthelm.com for the Legette family.