Wilbur Cohen
Age: 88
Family: Wife: Miriam Warshaurer Cohen; Children: Ken Cohen, Neil Cohen and Kathy Dumes
Education: Cincinnati Hughes High School 1941, University of Cincinnati, 1947
Residence: Cincinnati
Contribution: Held leadership positions at Middletown Regional Hospital, Middletown Area Chamber of Commerce, Industrial Council of the Chamber, United Way, Cedar Village Retirement Community and Temple Beth Sholom.
Ken Cohen
Age: 63
Family: Wife: Janet; Children: Alison, Melanie and Andy
Education: Middletown High School, 1966; Pennsylvania University, 1970
Residence: Maineville
Contribution: President of Cohen Brothers, volunteers for the Middletown Chamber of Commerce, YMCA, Big Brothers, United Way, Atrium Medical Center
Neil Cohen
Age: 58
Family: Wife: Honi; Children: Brian and Jill
Education: Middletown High School 1971, Miami University Hamilton, 1983
Residence: Hamilton
Contribution: Secretary of Cohen Brothers and board member at Fort Hamilton Hospital and chairman of Primary Health Solutions and board member Community First Solutions, vice chair of Center for Family Solutions, and Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce member.
Editor’s note: This is the fifth installment in a series of profiles of people the Middletown Journal has chosen as leading positive changes in our community.
MIDDLETOWN — The Cohen family — Wilbur and Mary Jean and their four children — used to sit around the dinner table in Middletown and, since this was before cellphones and other distracting devices, they held daily conversations.
The talks, though, didn’t concentrate on the Cohen Brothers, the family’s successful scrap metal business, which was founded by brothers Mose and Phil Cohen in 1924.
Instead, Wilbur Cohen, now 88, told his children about his volunteer efforts on the board of directors at Middletown Regional Hospital, then a fledging medical facility.
It later moved and became Atrium Medical Center.
His wife shared tales about her volunteerism at the hospital.
At the time, it may have appeared that the little Cohens weren’t paying attention to their parents, but now — as is evident by their deep involvement in Middletown, Hamilton and surrounding communities — Ken, Neil, Kathy and Linda Cohen were listening to the family folklore.
In fact, the Cohen children — all grown adults — are imitating their parents, which, they say, is the greatest flattery.
Mike Sanders, executive director of Middletown Area United Way, said the Cohen family possesses “a passion to make each of the communities a better place.”
T. Duane Gordon, executive director of the Middletown Community Foundation, called the Cohen family “one of Middletown’s most generous group of individuals still with us today.”
He said “practically every major charitable project” in the community has a Cohen connection.
Wilbur and his late wife Mary Jean Cohen “set a shinning example for their family and taught their children the value of giving back,” Gordon added.
Ken, 63, the oldest of the children, served as chair of the Middletown Area United Way-Greater Cincinnati campaign in 2006, and two years later, was named the United Way’s Volunteer of the Year. The Maineville resident also volunteers at the YMCA, Big Brothers, Atrium Medical Center, and is associated with Temple Beth Sholom in Middletown and Rockdale Temple in Cincinnati.
Neil, 58, of Hamilton, serves as secretary of Cohen Brothers and oversees operations of the Hamilton facility. He has served on the board at Fort Hamilton Hospital periodically since 1983 and chairs Primary Health Solutions in Hamilton.
Kathy Dumes, 60, lives in Cincinnati, and is married to Robert, a Middletown attorney. Linda Cohen Abrams passed away of a heart attack in 2004. She was 47.
After they grew up, Neil Cohen said the children “took up the cause” for their parents. He described it as “something in our DNA.”
While Ken Cohen is one of the most civic-minded business leaders in the region, he prefers to do his volunteer work behind closed doors, away from the spotlight. When he was named United Way’s Volunteer of the Year, he said he was “just doing my job.”
Being a part of the community is a goal at Cohen Brothers, but the accolades that accompany those efforts “aren’t important to me,” Ken Cohen said.
He said Cohen Brothers has an “obligation to help people,” a trait he saw planted by his grandparents, Mose and Mollie Cohen. He said his grandmother kept receipts in a drawer in her apartment, and each time an organization asked for a donation, she sent them a check.
The chain of Cohen community involvement has not been broken. Wilbur Cohen served as president of the Middletown Area Chamber of Commerce and Middletown Industrial Council. He was campaign chairman of the board of trustees of the Middletown Area United Way, and was a member of the committee to establish the Middletown campus of Miami University.
In 1992, he was named All American Citizen at All American Weekend. He was the 34th recipient of the Distinguished Service Award presented in 1979 by the Middletown Jaycees.
He provided invaluable leadership to Middletown Regional Hospital in his 42 years of continuous board service. In 1965, he joined the Middletown Regional Hospital board of directors. As president of the MRH board (1972-1980) and of the United Care Corporation board (1982-1990), he guided the hospital through two periods of significant growth. He continues to serve as an emeritus board member and works with the Heritage Society committee of the Atrium Medical Center Foundation.
The Cohens’ generosity was instrumental in establishing the Wilbur & Mary Jean Cohen Women’s Center, as well as establishing the Linda Cohen Abrams Health and Risk Assessment Center, and the Heart Center at Atrium Medical Center, and most recently Cancer Care at Atrium Medical Center.
As a 36-year Auxiliary member, Mary Jean gave more than 3,600 hours to MRH. She served on the boards of Bull’s Run Arboretum, Alternatives, Hospice of Middletown, and the Ladies Auxiliary of Temple Beth Sholom. Mary Jean Cohen passed away on July 30, 2008. She was 83.
Michael D. Stautberg, Atrium Medical Center Foundation executive director, said: “We are grateful to all of the members of the Cohen family for their strong business leadership and civic-minded support through both their talent and financial resources, Atrium Medical Center, and Middletown Regional Hospital before it, would not be the outstanding place for health care services it is today were it not, in part, for the significant support of the Cohens. Wilbur, through his steady visionary leadership, is a substantial part of the success and history of our health system.”
Wilbur recently married Miriam Warshaurer and resides in Cincinnati.
Neil is five years younger than Ken, and while growing up, and even today, he idolized his big brother.
“I’m always amazed by what he does,” Neil said. “There is nobody I’d rather try to measure up to then him. He is the model for all of us.”
Ken Cohen started working when he was 5 years old sorting rags on Saturday mornings. He earned 50 cents a day, but the real reward was having lunch with his grandfather.
He began working at his family’s business full-time in 1970, the year he graduated from college, and was named president and chief executive officer in 1988.
His father, though, still has a reserved parking space closest to the employee entrance and works about every afternoon.
Cohen Brothers has 20 locations in four states, processing hundreds of thousands of tons of scrap annually. The 50-acre corporate headquarters and processing center is located on Woodlawn Avenue in Middletown.
It’s now a four-generation business since Andy Cohen, 31, Jill Cohen, 28, and Adam Dumes, 36, all work there.
And what does Neil Cohen hope others think of the Cohen family? He mentioned integrity and generosity. “That’s what we model our lives after and the constant search to get better at those things.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.
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