On Tuesday morning, Aug. 30, as Janice Cochran got ready for the day, she heard a commotion overhead.
However, this time it wasn’t raccoons making noise, gnawing holes in her roof.
This time it was a crew from Batterbee Roofing, the Oxford, Florida-based roofing company chosen by Owens Corning, to replace Cochran’s roof as part of the Owens Corning National Roof Deployment Project.
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The project, launched by Owens Corning in 2016, is designed to show gratitude to America’s veterans by providing deserving veterans or their survivors with a free, new roof.
Owens Corning donates the roofing material and a partnering Platinum Preferred (roofing) Contractor donates the labor.
Since 2016, the National Roof Deployment Project has replaced more than 350 roofs nationwide, said Travis Foster, Owens Corning senior area sales manager who was on-site at Cochran’s house Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Cochran was inside her house, tearing up as she talked with the Chronicle about the gift of a new roof she was being given.
“It’s hard to talk about,” she said. “We’ve never had anybody do anything like this for us before… … The roof just got old, and it was too much,” she said.
She and her late husband of almost 57 years, Walton “Mickey” Cochran, who died July 30, 2012, at age 76, had purchased their five-acre property in Inverness in 1978.
Retired homebuilder George Rusaw had built the house for the Cochrans as their retirement home.
Mickey, who served in the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division, spent his civilian career as a Publix store manager, retiring in 1995 after more than 35 years.
Janice Cochran said she was the one who chose Citrus County.
They had lived all over the east coast of Florida and she was tired of living where it was “green all year.”
She wanted to live someplace where there was at least some sort of winter.
“I was visiting my brother in New Port Richey and my sister in Clearwater and came over here in the wintertime, and a lot of the trees didn’t have leaves,” she said. “It looked like wintertime, and I told my husband, ‘This is where we need to move after you retire.’”
The couple lived frugally, paying for everything they needed. But after more than 25 years without any work done on the roof, normal wear and tear, plus some critter damage, turned into a serious problem.
“We found a lot of bad plywood,” said Justin Blandford, Batterbee Roofing COO, adding that if Cochran had to pay for the roof herself it would’ve cost her between $25,000 and $30,000.
“A leak in the garage had developed,” Cochran said, “but the biggest problem was an infestation of raccoons. A (neighbor) had cleared their property of all their trees and the raccoons that were over there came over here and gnawed a hole (in the roof).
“One of them got into the fireplace and couldn’t find his way out, and before I could find somebody to get it out of there it died,” she said. “I still see a raccoon from time to time.”
She said when she realized her roof was in desperate need of repair and didn’t know what to do about it, she called a friend from her church to ask who they would recommend.
The friend called George Rusaw, now Habitat for Humanity of Citrus County president and CEO, who told the friend about the Owens Corning National Roof Deployment Project.
“It was Mr. Rusaw who got things started,” Cochran said. “He came out and interviewed me and told me to be patient, that it takes a while to hear back about this, especially if you’re chosen for it.”
She said she had told Rusaw, “My husband and I never lived an elaborate lifestyle. We were always able to take care of what we needed.”
But this time, she needed help.
Justin Blandford said Batterbee Roofing is always happy to participate with Owens Corning and this project for veterans.
“This is a great program and Owens Corning is a fantastic company to do this,” he said, “and we are happy to do this for (Mrs. Cochran). Good things happen to good people.”
Cochran said she felt “privileged and honored to have been chosen for this.”
“All the people I’ve talked to over the phone, the people that’s been here, they’ve all been so nice and polite and respectful,” she said. “I never dreamed anything like this would ever happen, and I will remember this for the rest of my life.”