Robert D. Cohen

Bob Cohen of Bethlehem, PA. 78 died suddenly at home on Tuesday December 6, 2016. He was born in Springfield, Ohio on November 19, 1938 to Beatrice (Lopper) and Arthur R. Cohen, M.D. both deceased. He lived his life fully with an abundance of energy and a great capacity for service to others while also attending to his own needs for creativity and self-expression.

Bob spent his early years in Springfield and Cleveland before moving to Bexley, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio at age 9. He attended the Columbus Boychoir School (now the American Boychoir School) from 1948 to 1951, moving with the school from Columbus to Princeton, NJ. Bob graduated from Bexley High School in 1956 and Cornell University in 1960. He received an MA in English from the University of Pennsylvania and an EdD. in Student Personnel from Teachers College, Columbia University. He was a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching English Literature in Nigeria from 1962-1964 and returned to the Peace Corps as an administrator in Liberia from 1965-1967.

During college, Bob joined Cornells a cappella singing group the Cayugas Waiters. After college he sang with many vocal groups in New York City and the Lehigh Valley. He was a soloist with the Lehigh Valley Pops Orchestra and the Bethlehem Municipal Band and started Tapioca, the a cappella ensemble. He performed in the British Music Hall in Bethlehem for many years and as a solo cabaret singer in New York City, Bucks County, and the Lehigh Valley and he could be seen busking in Galway Ireland, Madison Wisconsin, and a subway tunnel in Canada. The songs of the Great American Songbook were his favorites. Bob sang yearly at Cornell reunions with the Cayugas Waiters alumni group who will be featured in an upcoming documentary.

Bob came to Bethlehem to be the Associate Dean of students at Lehigh University in 1979 following his work at Hunter College in New York City as the foreign student advisor and Acting Dean of Students. He left Lehigh after six years to open his own consulting business, College Admissions Services, where he helped many high school students. Bob retired in 2010 to follow three passions: music, singing, and acting. He took up learning to play the saxophone and the accordion.

During the past four years Bob was in the cast of several plays and shows including Julius Caesar, Fiddler on the Roof, A Christmas Carol, Dream Street, PYT Holiday Spectacular, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Finnegans Farewell, and A Resting Place.

Bob was a member of the Bethlehem Rotary Club for over three decades, serving as board member, president, leading the Morganaires singers, and organizing several musical fund raisers. In 2010 he travelled to India for a month as a Rotary Group Exchange leader. He was on the Bethlehem Arts Council. Bob was active at WDIY-FM radio station, serving as board president and was the first programmer to be heard on the air. He served several terms on the board of the Bethlehem Area Public Library and was an active member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley, singing in its Beacon Choir and cooking meals for the men of its winter homeless shelter.

Survivors

Bob is survived by his wife of 42 years, Amy Miller Cohen, his children Samuel A. Cohen (Liliana) of East Brunswick, NJ, Anna C. Cohen of Bethlehem, his grandchildren Madalynn E. Cohen and Christopher A. Cohen, his brother Bill Cohen (Randi) of Columbus, OH, his sister Marian Weiss (Bruce) of Woodstock, IL, his nieces Emily W. OConnor (Rich) of Northbrook, IL and Hannah B. Cohen, and his twin grandnieces Abigail and Isabella OConnor.

A Celebration of Bobs life will be held on Saturday March 25, 2017 at 11AM at UUCLV, 424 Center Street, Bethlehem, PA 18018.

Contributions in Bobs memory may be made to the Bethlehem Area Public Library, 11 West Church Street, Bethlehem, PA. 18018, the American Boychoir School, PO Box 7468, Princeton, NJ 08543 or the Community Action Council of the Lehigh Valley (CACLV), 1337 East 5th Street , Bethlehem, PA 18015.

Celebration of Life
Saturday, March 25, 2017
11:00 AM
Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley
424 Center St.
Bethlehem PA 18018
US

Funeral HomeConnell Funeral Home, Inc.
245 East Broad St.
Bethlehem PA - 18018
US
610-868-8531