Recovery Chaplain Judy Cockrum
Widowed 12/1/2020
This web page is dedicated to my late husband Chaplain Russ Cockrum.
He was a faith pioneer, and each day was a journey of gratefulness and grace for him.
He was known as a gentle giant. His stories were full of truth and conviction. His style of preaching/teaching was best described by one of his heroes of the faith, Dan Betzer, who told him he was an excellent communicator, with a living- room style presentation, that is easy to grasp from the bottom shelf.
Our greatest joy as pastors was celebrating life with individuals and families, and sitting together in ministry, praying with hurting families. As U.S. missionaries riding the paved highways, and dirt or gravel roads on two Harleys, crossing paths with riders in the US, Canada and Mexico ministering to their needs and praying over life's struggles. We pioneered a church in Key Largo, FL. We then worked with a congregation to revive a broken, hurting church in South Central Indiana for 15 years. We resigned Pastoral ministry and became US Missionaries, as Chaplains to bikers-motorcyclists. We founded HonorBound Motorcycle Ministry in December 1999, ministering to bikers, at national rallies, biker clubs, toy runs, and patching riders with HBMM all across the nation. We had the distinct blessing and honor of riding and working in leadership 10 years with Run for the Wall.
Early Years: I married Russ in June of 1967. We met on May 16th 1964. I was a sophomore and he was the new kid at our High School, a junior. We met on a blind date. We both knew very early into our friendship we were to be together for life. He was so creative, a visionary. Russ, had a very creative father, and his mother was a breath of fresh air. She looked at life the same way she looked at her flower garden, her family and of course grandchildren; all brought her joy.
Russ stepped into marriage with a very broken and lost 19-year-old wife. He didn't have a clue what was ahead of him, but he was faithful to learn to love with lots of patience, mercy, and grace.
Our first son, Jim, was born in February 1969, the day after Russ left for Korea for a 13-month tour on the DMZ. The Korean conflict had not waned, and the Vietnam War was escalating; he had top secret crypto clearance, and his orders changed several times while we were expecting our first child. The final orders came when they sorted the troops by height. Being over 6 ft tall, he was sent to the DMZ in Korea.
After being separated for 13 months during his tour of duty, Russ returned home an alcoholic. I had moved from his parent's home to my parents' home at 21 with an infant in tow, waiting for his return from overseas. The loneliness and boredom of isolation on duty, when he wasn't doing his assignment in the bunker, he felt his only option was to drink with the other soldiers. He fell into the loneliness and depression trap for 13 months. Many years later, he got a partial disability from the VA for PTSD, anxiety, and depression.
We had our second son, Ken, a year after he returned from Korea. Two babies, four years of goodbyes and heartache - our search for escape had permeated our marriage. We both were lured into conspiracy theories, dropping out, living off the grid, and escaping reality. After 11 years of marriage, we started talking about divorce.
The story, the people, God's amazing grace, and our extraordinary changed lives will be woven into the book: "Peace BY PIECE" (originally titled A way of Escape, but revised after great loss and grief, additional ministry training, and life reflection.
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