Our new club president, Lorna Cochrane, grew up in Saskatchewan, Canada, a rural area known for farms and energy industry -- ranging from potash and diamond mining to oil and gas production. Prairie life was simple and secure with big unobstructed skies and sunsets to inspire Lorna's dreams of travel and adventure.
Lorna is a life-long learner who started her career as a nurse and later earned psychology degrees. She has taught psychology and psychiatric nursing at the university level and worked as a director of a forensic rehabilitation facility. She is a Professional Assault Response Trainer, who did her master’s thesis on violence prevention. She earned a Ph.D. in Cognitive and Educational Psychology from McGill University in Montreal, which she earned while her children were young.
Lorna's career has focused on healthcare and education. She has worked at bedsides and in classrooms. She has been an administrator, worked in policy forums, and designed and implemented research. She also has worked on provincial healthcare boards and advised on making healthcare systems more efficient and effective.
Lornaco-owned AXDEV Group/Global, an international research and educational consulting group focused on change management for pharmaceutical, medical and state health organizations. As a principal of this U.S. based subsidiary and having strong educational credentials, Lorna first worked in this country on a green card. But, as a long-term resident of the United States, she couldn’t vote in Canada even though she owned a home there. Since she wasn’t an American citizen, she couldn’t vote in this country either. This situation helped motivate Lorna to apply for American citizenship and become an U.S. citizen in 2010. The judge during her U.S. citizenship ceremony emphasized the obligation of new citizens to give back to the country that offers so many benefits. Lorna took this mandate to heart by volunteering as a member of the Rotary Club of Norfolk, which she had joined in 2009. As part of our club she co-chaired Suds & Buds and also has served in various officer roles, including president of Norfolk Rotary Charities.
Lorna's consulting work took her away from home for long periods, so she sold her shares of AXDEV and started her own firm, Cochrane Connections. She continues to be involved in global violence research.
Lorna met her husband, Daniel St. Cyr, while on a vacation to Mexico. At the time, she was working in Canada running a long-term care facility. Daniel was in the Canadian military. They stayed in touch and eventually their paths crossed again while Lorna was in Montreal earning her doctorate and Daniel was stationed nearby.
Daniel’s job with the Canadian military brought him to Norfolk where he was associated with NATO and later worked with the state department. One of the people Lorna got to know was Captain Gary Hatton with the Canadian military, who was a member of our club and encouraged Lorna to also join.
Lorna, a three-time cancer survivor, loves to golf, run marathons and enjoys water sports. In Canada she served on the ski patrol. She also makes valor quilts for military personnel and veterans and plays bridge. She and Daniel enjoy traveling and look forward to a trip to Australia. One of her favorite trips was to India, and she also loves Istanbul, Turkey.
Lorna loves to paint. One of her paintings depicts an older woman in a rural scene complete with a fence that did not look like the standard fence in her home area. Years later, on an ancestral trip to Ireland, she was amazed to see the exact scene she had painted complete with the unusual fence.
Lorna has three children. All of them live in Canada -- a son in Saskatchewan and daughters in Calgary and Ottawa. She enjoys her three grandsons who come to Norfolk for an extended stay from Calgary in the summers.