Raymond Joseph Cochard

1946 - 2025

Raymond Joseph Cochard, born April 17 1946, passed away surrounded by family June 13, 2025, in Fernandina Beach, Fla.
He was predeceased by his mother, Lorraine Chambers; father, Edmund Cochard; and younger brother, Robert Cochard.
He left behind his wife, Angela; sister, Kathy Greene; six children, Kirin, Suzanne, George, Billy, Marie and Ethan; three stepsons, Eduardo, Enrique and Roberto; seven grandchildren, Leonardo, Ikaika, Teze, Emma, Kyla, Dakota and Nova; and four step-grandchildren, Thiago, Dejan, Olivia and Martina. He was also a beloved uncle to six nieces and nephews, many of whom visited him while he lived in Hawaii and abroad.
Ray was an avid sportsman and always looked for ways to incorporate exercise into his daily life. He was active all his life, starting out as a swimmer, running track and playing high school and college football at USC. Besides competitive sports, he also really enjoyed extreme sports, such as sky diving, paragliding and kite surfing.
Over his life span, he also dedicated time to hiking, body surfing, outrigger paddling, biking and pickleball. He loved competitive sports and even trained for an outrigger paddling competition at the age of 66. Later in life, his activities were limited to swimming in the pool and doing his own yard work until he delegated it two years ago. He loved his garden and was constantly working on it to keep his lawn green.
He retired from his work as chief financial officer at Maple Corporation del Peru in December 2010. Most of his career was spent working in finance in the oil industry and lastly in the natural gas industry. This work took him overseas to Bolivia and Peru.
The son of a career U.S. Army officer, he also served in the Army in 1970 during the Vietnam War and was awarded the American Spirit Award, where he was recognized for his loyalty to his peers in a battalion of 1,500 soldiers.
He was used to traveling the world as part of a military family and lived in France, Japan, Iran and Turkey, as well as San Francisco, Honolulu, Dallas and Lima, Peru, where he met Angela Meza, his wife of 18 years. They were married Aug. 24, 2007, in Miami, Fla., and lived in Lima, Peru, until 2019. They settled here in Fernandina Beach in 2019.
Ray attended and graduated from University of Southern California in 1968 and went on to work for Mobile as a chemical engineer. He then decided to pursue accounting and ultimately earned his MBA from Sacramento State in 1974. This prepared him for a career in finance for American-based oil companies, including Occidental Petroleum and Maple Gas Corporation. He enjoyed the adventure of starting Maple's new office in Lima in 1994, which provided him the opportunity to trek through the Amazon jungle and explore the arid climates of Northern Peru near its coastal cities.
After retiring from Maple in December 2010, he and Angela traveled to visit family and the world. They visited grandchildren and children in Texas, Florida and Nevada. Their world travels took them to Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, the Galapagos, Dominican Republic, Mexico, France and Belgium.
In his spare time, Ray had many hobbies and he was constantly reading and learning new things. Some of his hobbies included astronomy, tinkering, building robots and small engines, painting and drawing, which he loved to share with his children and grandchildren. He delighted in preparing for his grandchildren's visits and in addition to playing in the pool and working on fun projects; he patiently tutored them in math and anything else that needed an extra boost.
Despite all his accomplishments, Ray lived humbly and was kind to everyone he encountered. He was a patriot and was loyal to his family and friends. He will be remembered by everyone who knew him as a kind, loving husband and father, wise and fun grandpa, cool uncle and friend.
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