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Musical Memorial Celebrates The Life Of Utah Man Killed In London Attack

Lee Hale
/
KUER

Kurt Cochran of West Bountiful was one of 4 victims who died in last week’s terrorist attack in London. A self-employed studio producer, Cochran was honored Sunday night with a musical tribute in his home community.

 

Like all performers at the memorial Kristin Morris had spent time recording in Cochran’s home studio.

 

"[Music] was his thing that’s what he loved," says Morris. "He loved to make music, he loved to play the guitar.”

 

And he loved encouraging up and coming musicians who had never recorded or performed before. Morris says Cochran had the ability to make jittery first timers like her feel totally at ease.

 

"It’s like he had nothing else to think about in the world but you," says Morris.

 

Similar thoughts were echoed by each performer who took the stage.

 

Cochran died last Wednesday after being hit an attacker’s vehicle on London’s Westminster bridge. He was on vacation celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary with his wife Melissa who was also badly injured.

 

Melissa is currently recovering in the hospital.

 

Lee Hale began listening to KUER while he was teaching English at a Middle School in West Jordan (his one hour commute made for plenty of listening time). Inspired by what he heard he applied for the Kroc Fellowship at NPR headquarters in DC and to his surprise, he got it. Since then he has reported on topics ranging from TSA PreCheck to micro apartments in overcrowded cities to the various ways zoo animals stay cool in the summer heat. But, his primary focus has always been education and he returns to Utah to cover the same schools he was teaching in not long ago. Lee is a graduate of Brigham Young University and is also fascinated with the way religion intersects with the culture and communities of the Beehive State. He hopes to tell stories that accurately reflect the beliefs that Utahns hold dear.
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