Rose (Freedman) Cohen

Rose (Freedman) Cohen, widow of the late Lewis I. Cohen, died peacefully in her sleep at home at Chatfield Senior Living apartments in West Hartford on Thursday. She was 101 years old. Born to Isaac and Fanny (Saunders) Freedman in Hartford in 1911, Rose grew up in Torrington. After graduating from Torrington High School in 1928 she moved to Hartford to take a job as a bookkeeper. She met and married her husband, Lewis Cohen, in 1939 and the following year they opened Modern Drug Store at the corner of Blue Hills Avenue and Burnham St. They lived on Salisbury Street around the corner from the store, and Rose worked part time in the store for almost twenty years while raising their two children, David and Carol. Known in her high school as the “social chairman,” Rose carried that reputation throughout her life; arranging gatherings of family and friends for picnics, card games, social evenings, and commemorations of special occasions. She was never happier than when her family gathered in her home to celebrate a holiday or the birthday of one of her children or grandchildren. As the years passed, Rose and Lew moved to West Hartford, built a house at Crescent Beach in Niantic, and then bought a condo in Florida. They had large circles of friends in all those places, and enjoyed their senior years pursuing their passions for theater, travel, film and in the social activities that Rose loved to plan. She also actively participated in woman’s groups and organizations to support worthy causes such as Hadassah Hospital in Israel, Brandeis University and Temple Beth Kodesh in Boynton Beach, Florida. After Lew died in 1996 Rose continued their routine of living in Florida for the winter and at her home at Crescent Beach during the summer. In 2008 at the age of 97 she moved into an apartment at Chatfield Senior Living in West Hartford, where, until the age of 101, she continued to go to restaurants and the theater, and play-and win-at mah jongg, canasta, and bridge. Rose leaves her son, David, and his spouse, Doris Stein Cohen; her daughter, Carol, and her spouse, Pat Hoffmann; four grandchildren, Bonnie, Sara, Janet and Rebecca, and four great grandchildren, Brett, Josh, Lewis and Elia. She was predeceased by her brother, Max Freedman of Hartford, and her sisters, Sarah Angel of Meriden, and Emma Eisenstein of Middletown. Funeral services will be on Sunday, December 9, 2012 at 10:00 am in the Chapel of the Weinstein Funeral Home, 640 Farmington Avenue, Hartford. Interment will follow in John Hay Memorial Park, Garden St., Hartford. Shiva will be at the home of David and Doris Cohen, 92 Marian St. Northampton, Massachusetts, Sunday through Thursday at 7:30 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hebrew Health Care VNA Hospice services, 1 Abrahms Boulevard, West Hartford, CT 06117. For further information, directions, or to sign the guest book for Rose, please visit online at www.weinsteinmortuary.com/funerals.cfm.