Philip William Cohen

Philip William Cohen, son of the late Abraham and Tillie (Schneiderman) Cohen passed away on Wednesday June 27 in Delray Beach, FL. He formerly lived in Newton, MA before moving to Florida 20 yrs ago. He is survived by his beloved wife of 69 years Bella (Sworin) Cohen, 3 children 12 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren. Devoted father of Barry Cohen & his wife Myra, Laraine Cohen Levy & her husband Jeffry, Richard Cohen & his wife Laurie and the late Barbara Koch Daniels. Grandchildren Cindy Koch, Amy & Peter Gottlieb, Jeffrey & Sandy Koch, Andrew Cohen & Amelia Burgos, Jonathan Cohen & Shantelle Maxwell, Daniel & Lauren Cohen, Allison & Andrew Margolies, Lindsay Cohen & Brian Nakash, Alexander Cohen, Matthew Cohen, Emily Cohen and Lily Cohen. Great grandchildren include Hannah Koch, Benjamin Koch, Eliza Koch, Isabella Gottlieb, Brette Gottlieb, Brandon Koch, Jordan Cohen, Alexa Cohen, and Sam Cohen. Dear brother of the late Nan Weinstein, Maurice Cohen and Norman Cohen. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

Phil Cohen was one of the founders with his late brothers and sister of LECHMERE SALES in Cambridge, MA. He and his brothers were recently inducted into the Consumer Electronics Association Hall of Fame. Phil and his brothers worked in their father “Pop’s” tire shop as young men. After returning from WWII military service “the boys” started to sell other products for returning service men and their families. The forward thinking of the Cohen brothers created low margin and high volume sales. LECHMERE was known for its merchandise, market dominance, knowledgeable sales staff and highly successful merchandising promotions. The brothers ran this business with the help of many devoted employees who became part of the LECHMERE SALES family. In 1969, LECHMERE was sold to the Dayton-Hudson Corporation, (the predecessor of Target Corporation).

Mr. and Mrs. Cohen were early organizers of what is today known as mission trips to Israel, their support of Israel was so well received and appreciated that the then Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, invited them for a Passover Seder. Mr. Cohen also funded an archeological garden at the Hebrew University at Mt. Scopus in honor of his wife Bella. Mr. & Mrs. Cohen also donated rooms and funded medical research at the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem as well as funding ongoing student scholarship programs for 25 students to attend the Hebrew University annually. Mr. Cohen and his wife have been major supporters of the Boston Children’s Hospital for the past 29 years, their funding included, a room on the bone marrow transplant floor, a room in the blood donation center, a resource center on the oncology floor for patients and their families. Mr. & Mrs. Cohen have also supported the South Palm Beach Jewish Federation with endowments to benefit the Jewish community. Mr. & Mrs. Cohen were members of Temple Emanuel in Newton for over 50 years. Mr. Cohen was also a long time member of the Blue Hills Country Club in Canton, Mass. as well as the Hamlet Country Club in Delray Beach, Florida. Mr. & Mrs. Cohen took great pleasure in traveling the world with their children and grandchildren.

Services will be held at the Levine Chapels, 470 Harvard St., Brookline, MA on Sunday July 1 at 10 AM. Burial in the Share Tefila Cemetery, 776 Baker St., West Roxbury. Memorial Observance will be at the home of Laraine Levy Sunday through 8pm and Monday 2-5pm & 7-9pm. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to The Children’s Hospital League, ATTN Amanda Armenti, 1 Autumn St., #731, Boston, Mass 02215-5301.