Sydney F Cochran

On April 1, 2025, the world lost a multi-faceted woman of grace, grit, and style. Though the calendar called it April Fool’s Day, the universe knew better—this was no joke, but the quiet ascent of a soul who had danced her way through life with purpose, laughter, joy and a heart of gold.

Born in Pittsburgh, PA and raised in Washington, PA, Sydney F. Cochran entered the world with rhythm in her feet and wonder in her eyes. In time, she found her way to Chicago—a city she came to love deeply, and one that helped shape her into the phenomenal woman she was destined to be.

She was a known tap dancer—light on her toes, heavy with soul—who understood that life is best lived in movement and music. She trained at South Side’s The Mayfair Academy of Arts where she perfected her love of dance, built lifetime bonds, and became a showstopping performer. With every step, she taught us how to keep going, and smiling, lessons captured in her archive of thousands of photos.

In her hands, a camera became an instrument of jubilation and HERstory. As an amateur photographer, she chronicled life’s beauty across eight decades capturing everyday moments and the extraordinary: selfies (before they were in vogue), family reunions, vacations, office parties, milestone celebrations, celebrities who touched down in Chicago, and the Windy City’s vibrant cultural scene. Each image she left behind is a poem, a prayer, a pause in time that reminds us to look a little closer and feel the flow of life.

As an education administrator and auditor of 32 years, she worked with integrity and insight. She did not just guide systems or monitor dollars spent; she was a connector and foundational to the Illinois education system’s evolution into the 21st century. On top of dance, photography, and full-time work, she somehow found time to moonlight as an usher at the Regal and Chicago theaters which fueled her passion for socializing and gave her a front row seat to culture and the arts.

But her true legacy was her love and family.

She was preceded in death by her parents, a beloved daughter, a cherished grandson and a longtime companion whose heart never quite let hers go. Though they’ve gone before her, we can only imagine the reunion—one of light, laughter, and perhaps a shuffle-ball-change on heaven’s dancefloor.

Her love lives on in her two sons, four grandchildren, nine great- grandchildren, a sister and brother-in-law, two nephews, close cousins, a circle of sister-friends and a community of hearts forever changed by her brilliance, originality, and her commitment to one simple mantra: "Do what makes you happy."

She did. And she taught us how.

Now, her dance continues—in stories, in steps, in treasured moments caught on film, and in the quiet knowing that love, once given, never truly dies.