Claudia A Cohen

Claudia Cohen died peacefully in her sleep May 22 at Liberty Commons skilled nursing facility, as a result of injuries sustained earlier in a fall. She was a 46-year resident of Centerville.

She grew up in Philadelphia, PA. Her mother, Leah Abraham, was an accomplished concert pianist and her father, Douglas Abraham, owned a high-end lampshade business.

Claudia graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Television and Communication Arts. A year later, she married Rabbi H. Hirsch Cohen, living in Philadelphia until his career took them to Walnut Creek, California; Urbana, Illinois; and ultimately University of Connecticut in Storrs. After they retired to Cape Cod in 1993, they enjoyed vacationing in Sarasota, Florida.

Long before Facebook, Claudia was the original social network -- reaching out to friends, active or dormant, healthy or sick, to let them know she cared and make them feel part of her community. She was known for her kind heart, dry sense of humor, intellectual curiosity, love of movies and theater, and delicious cookies and brownies.

She is survived by her daughter, Deborah Curlee Hall, a healthcare business owner in Knoxville, Tennessee, and her son, Douglas Cohen, a musical theater writer and teacher in New York City, as well as 3 grandchildren: Colin Curlee and Alison Curlee Smith, and Jeremy Cohen. She is also survived by her son-in-law, James Hall, and her daughter-in-law, Catherine Kiliper.

Services were conducted by Rabbi David Freelund and Canton Bruce Mallon at the Cape Cod Synagogue. The family requests that all donations in Claudia's honor be made to the Cape Cod Synagogue, 145 Winter Street, Hyannis, MA, 02601.