Died Oct. 5, 2009 and resided in San Antonio, TX.
Service: Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009
Funeral Home: Porter Loring Mortuary
Cemetery: Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery
Colonel Thomas L. Cocheres, USAF (Ret.) passed away on Monday, October 5, 2009 in San Antonio, Texas.
He was born on New Year's Day 1919 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Greek immigrant parents, Louis Cocheres and Eleni Vlonidis.
He was former Chief of the Biomedical Sciences Corps, USAF and attended Greek and American schools, graduating from Allegheny High in 1937. During the Great Depression, he and his brothers helped support the family by selling newspapers on the streets in downtown Pittsburgh. After high school, he worked in a theater as an usher and assistant manager. He was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1942 and was sent to Keesler Field, Biloxi, MS for basic training. From there he was assigned to Atlantic City where the Army had just established a training center for medical personnel. Private Cocheres was assigned to the Medical Inspector as a clerk and later became a drill sergeant. He was selected to attend the Army Medical Field Service School at Carlisle Barracks, PA, and was commissioned a second lieutenant upon graduation. He then was selected to attend the Battalion Surgeons Assistants School at Camp Barkeley, TX, and later assigned to the Camp Butner, NC, Hospital Center for duty as Company Commander of companies C&D, 8th Battalion, and then Company B, 9th Battalion. He left the Army at the end of World War II and attended the University of Pittsburgh under the G.I. Bill. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology in 1948.
He was recalled to active duty in 1949 and assigned to the Department of Experimental Psychology at the School of Aviation Medicine, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. He conducted research and completed an experimental study entitled "Reading Devices Versus Free Reading" which was presented to Trinity University in partial fulfillment for the Degree of Master of Arts which he obtained in August 1951.
In 1949, he met and married the former Jacquelyn Cone, a native San Antonian. They were wed at Randolph AFB Chapel on November 26, 1949 and he and Jacquelyn began their life together with the Air Force. He continued working on research projects, including study of crew personnel at various Strategic Air Command bases. In 1951 he was assigned to the Far East when the Korean War broke out. Upon his return to the US he was assigned to the Air Research and Development Command in Baltimore, Maryland and later assignments included Luke AFB in Phoenix, AZ and Tachikawa AB in Tokyo, Japan. While at Tachikawa during the Vietnam War, he was deployed to Tak Li, Thailand with the Air Force's mobile hospitals. He returned to Randolph AFB to the Military Personnel Center and later to Sheppard AFB when the Biomedical Sciences Corps was established. He transferred to Washington, DC as Chief of the Biomedical Sciences Corps and received awards from national professional organizations and the military.
His professional honors include the Legion of Merit with Two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, and was the military consultant to the USAF Surgeon General for Biomedical Sciences. He was most proud of his efforts on behalf of the Surgeon General to establish a "physician assistance" program that would train medical technicians to function independently but be supervised by physicians. This program was the early forerunner of the important national "PA" programs of today. Col. and Mrs. Cocheres retired from Washington, DC to Helotes, TX in 1978. Col. Cocheres was preceded in death by his mother and father; his sisters Bess Sicalias, Alexandra King, and Penelope Cocheres; and his brothers Stathis Kotsiris and Steven Cocheres. Col. Cocheres is survived by his loving wife of nearly 60 years, Jacquelyn; children Patrice L. Ferguson and husband John Camp of Houston; Sherry L. Wolf, MD and husband Daryl Wolf of Vernon, Texas; and T. Michael Cocheres and wife Gay Cocheres of Enid, Oklahoma. He is also survived by his three wonderful grandchildren who lovingly called him "Pappou": J. Alexander Camp, Trevor Louis Cocheres, and Ali Colleen Cocheres. Also surviving Col. Cocheres are his sister Betty Clayton and her children John and Dan and their children; his brother Gabriel Louis Cocheres and his wife Johanna and their children Louis Cocheres and wife Carol; and Lenny Nyman and husband Ben and their son Eric; sister-in-law Eleni Cocheres and her children Valerie, Barbara, and Paul and their spouses and children; sister-in-law Eleni Kotsiris and her children, son Lambros, daughters Bessie and Effie and their children; and devoted nephew Jim Sicalias. Col. Cocheres is also survived by many long-time friends and golfing and singing buddies. Pallbearers are son Michael; grandsons Alex and Trevor, and sons-in-law John and Daryl. Special thanks to Air Force Village Freedom House and their devoted caregivers. Father Danut Suciu will officiate. A brief Interment Service with Full Military Honors will follow in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery at 2:30 P.M. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Freedom House, Alzheimer Care and Research Center, 12455 Freedom Way, San Antonio, TX 78245.
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