Harold L. Cohen, 97

Providence, R.I. – Harold L. Cohen died February 28. Born in Providence, he was the son of the late Samuel and Ida (Tabor) Cohen and the husband of the late Elaine (Levine) Cohen for 50 years. A Classical High School graduate, he established and ran United Paper Stock Company for decades spanning World War II with a childhood friend. He was discharged as an Army Staff Sergeant after serving in the South Pacific Theater for the war’s duration. Just shy of his 85th birthday, he achieved his lifelong goal of earning a Brown University Bachelor’s degree, thereby becoming Brown’s oldest graduate. He furthered his quest for learning through more than a decade of active participation in the Brown Community Learning in Retirement program.

Twice a Director of Temple Beth-El, of which he was a 60-year member, he supported myriad Jewish and broader community causes. He served as Chairman of the Service Corps of Retired Executives and thereafter as a SCORE counselor. A Jewish Community Center board member, he later became a JCC Honorary Director. He was a member of the Jewish War Veterans, the To Kalon Club, and Ledgemont Country Club. He became a Roosevelt Lodge mason in 1949 and achieved 32nd degree Scottish Rite masonry in 1962.

He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Hilary and Neal Zwicker, as well as three nephews and their families. He was the brother of the late Ruth L. Cohen, Annette Blumberg, Sumner A. Cohen, and Eleanor R. Weinberg.

Donations in his memory may be directed to the Harold L. Cohen ’01 Scholarship, c/o Rick Marshall, Brown University, P.O. Box 1893, Providence, RI 02912.