Barbara Cohen Harris

Barbara Cohen Harris of New York City died at age 82 on May 21, 2025 at Mount Sinai Hospital. Barbara was one of a kind, a warm and shining light whose southern charm instantly brightened any room she entered and who was always interested in and curious about everyone she ever met. She was an outstanding speech pathologist who worked primarily with young children and the elderly. She worked at the New York School for Nursery Years, Horace Mann and Barnard, and several nursing homes in Manhattan. She also conducted speech rehabilitation classes at the 92nd Street Y.

Barbara was born in 1943 in Louisville, Kentucky to Claire Louise Dinkelspiel of Louisville and Harry Joseph Cohen, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, a town on the Mississippi River.

The cause of death was advanced Alzheimer’s Dementia, possibly related to viral encephalitis she contracted in 1977, which severely damaged her eighth cranial nerve causing a profound loss of hearing and balance at age 34. Barbara had no quit in her and ceded no ground to her hearing and balance losses. She went back to work as a speech therapist in nursing homes, married Peter Yard Harris, a New York City native, and in 1985 gave birth to their son, Zachary Louis Harris. Barbara had two children from a prior marriage, Claire Evelyn Schloss and Matthew Harry Schloss.

Barbara graduated from J.M. Atherton High School in Louisville. She received a B.A. from Indiana University and a Master’s Degree in Speech Pathology from New York University.

Barbara was game for just about anything. At age 13, she talked her father into getting tickets so she and her dear friend, Jane Belker, could see Elvis in person in Louisville, chaperoned by Barbara’s sister, Lois. Barbara and Jane were two of those screaming girls at the front of the stage. Barbara had other adventures, too. To quote Jane: “You didn’t ever want to dare Barbara because she just might, and probably would, take you up on it.”

Barbara loved shopping, dressing sharply, and sitting in the sun getting a tan. She was friendly to all she met and interested in pretty much everyone. For example, she made a point of always asking her doctors and caregivers about their children. She hosted a weekly bridge game for many years, although she never overcame her aversion to bidding no trump.

She was diligent about keeping up with old friends and remembering everyone’s birthday with a card. She loved hosting parties to celebrate Jewish holidays, birthdays, and out of town visits from friends and relatives.

As she grew older, she lost her ability to walk and used an electric scooter for mobility. She went everywhere by herself in her scooter until, for her safety, we started accompanying her when she went outside. One time, she forgot and went out on her own. Peter frantically searched the neighborhood in vain. Meanwhile, Zach, who was coming home from work, stopped by a local grocery store. Who should he see but “Mommy!” in her scooter filled with all of her favorite sweets that she no longer was supposed to eat due to diabetes: a box of drumsticks, diet cokes, Keebler fudge stripe cookies, and dark chocolate with nuts.

We miss her so much.

Barbara’s family requests that any donations in her memory please be made to the Chicago Hearing Society (https://chicagohearingsociety.org/), where Barbara’s niece, Karen Graller Aguilar, works helping low-income children and other hard-of-hearing persons obtain hearing devices.