Obituary of Myron I. Cohen

Myron "Mike" I. Cohen Irondequoit: September 17, 2009 at age 81. Predeceased by his wife, Bernice. He is survived by his loving children, Gail (George) Keiser, Helene Cohen, Howard Cohen; granddaughter, Renee Grace Keiser; sister, Elaine Levy and nieces, Susan and Heidi. Myron owned Mike's Repair Garage for over 50 years. Graveside Services will be held on Monday, September 21, 2009 at 11 AM at Stone Road Cemetery (68 Stonewood Avenue). Click here for directions to the cemetery. Following the Funeral, the family will receive friends from 4-8 PM at Brighton Memorial Chapel (3325 Winton Road South). Click here for directions to the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Jewish Home Foundation 2021 Winton Road South Rochester, New York 14618 Link to the Jewish Home Foundation or American Cancer Society Memorial Processing Center 6725 Lyons St. PO Box 7 East Syracuse, New York 13057 Link to the American Cancer Society in his memory. Myron 'Mike' Cohen: Resourceful man loved life, cars Mark Hare • Senior Editor • Rochester Democrat & Chronicle - A Life Lived Section: November 29, 2009 As the story has it, Myron "Mike" Cohen, a so-so student at Rochester's Benjamin Franklin High School in the mid-1940s, fixed his Principal's car — and "that was enough to push him through" to graduation, says daughter Gail Keiser of Fairport. Cohen always loved cars, and a few years after high school, in 1952, he opened his own garage — Mike's Repair Garage — at 780 N. Clinton Ave. He later opened a second garage farther north on Clinton. Cohen, a Rochester native, was 81 when he died several weeks ago of cancer. He loved repairing cars, and he loved driving something new — new to him, says daughter Debbie Cohen of Greece. He always had used cars, but good used cars. And big cars. "He didn't like small cars," Keiser says. "I keep cars like people keep luggage, for 10 years or longer," says son Howard Cohen of Chili. "Not him." Mike Cohen had a towing contract with the city and often people would decide not to reclaim their cars. He would buy the ones he liked, fix them up and put them on the road. "He seemed to concentrate on Chevys," Howard says, but he had a Lincoln or two, and once a '59 Cadillac with big fins. When Gail turned 16, he gave her a 1965 Ford Mustang — every teenager's dream car in those days. It was white with a blue interior. All the kids, and his wife, Bernice, had cars that Cohen picked up at auction or at the shop. He often worked seven days a week and well into the night, his children say. "Mom had three or four dinner times," Howard says. "There was one time for us, another for her, and Dad always had his own dinner time" — late at night. "He took off three days a year for the Jewish high holy days," Debbie says. "That was it." Mike and Bernice Cohen bought a small house in Irondequoit in 1958 and lived there the rest of their lives. Bernice died in 1994. "Dad was such a survivor," Debbie says. "He didn't do 401(k)s or IRAs. He learned to make do." It was the same for his business. "There were always kids around the shop," Gail says. "And instead of saying, 'Don't touch this' or 'Don't walk here,' he'd hire them." The neighborhood kids always drove the tow truck for him, or learned some jobs in the garage. "He was loyal to them all," Debbie says. "If one of the kids' moms couldn't pay the RG&E, he'd help out." "And they had nicknames," Gail says. "There was Tomato and Smurf and Rebel. And he would do anything for them." Cohen learned to barter. He'd trade services with the doctor, the electrician, the butcher. "If the toilet didn't work," Howard says, "you didn't call the plumber, you called someone from the shop, someone who knew about plumbing." There was a man named John who was homeless, Gail says. "He lived in a car — they said it was 780½ N. Clinton — and Dad called him the 'night man.'" "Whatever worked, worked," Debbie says. There were times when Cohen stayed right at the shop. In the days following the July 1964 riots, he watched over his garage. He knew all the police officers because of his work towing for the city, and the cops congregated at the garage after the riots. Mike Cohen felt perfectly safe. He stayed, too, during the blizzard of January 1966 that dumped several feet of snow on the city. "He called," Gail says, "to let us know he would drive by in his tow truck and wave." It was a great time to make money for anyone with a towing contract, Howard says. Mike Cohen had a great sense of humor. "We always said he knew how to work a room," Debbie says. When he started intravenous treatments at the cancer center, she says, he'd ask the doctors to add vodka. "Whenever the doctor asked where the pain was, Dad would say in his left back pocket, where his wallet was." He was a man of simple tastes who loved family. "He was a homebody," Gail says. He was always nervous about travel, never flew in a plane and never ventured farther than Buffalo. He worried constantly when Gail, right after high school, went to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, but he didn't say no. The children laugh about the vacations they used to take — always to the long-gone Charter House motel near Buffalo, because it had a pool. "We'd swim and stay overnight," says Gail, "then come home." "We'd send postcards from the Charter House," Debbie says, laughing. In 1980, Mike and Bernice bought a cottage in Hamlin, on Lake Ontario. His dad owned two Sea Ray inboard/outboard motor boats, Howard says. But he rarely drove either of them, leaving them for the kids and their friends to use. They'd spend summers at the cottage, and Mike would commute every day to the garage. He loved the New York Yankees, and he had a room dedicated to the team, filled with hats and pennants and other memorabilia. He never ventured, even to Toronto, to see them play, but he listened on radio and then watched them on cable TV. He knew his team inside and out. Mike Cohen loved his life. "'Every day is a gift,' he used to say," Debbie recalls. In 1992, Bernice was diagnosed with lung cancer. After having a lung removed, she was forced to use a respirator. She spent the final 18 months of her life in the hospital. The family "never missed a single day," Gail says. "We had one bad winter storm while she was in the hospital," Debbie says, "and Dad got a tow truck and got us out so we could visit." Cohen had never cooked, but when Bernice was hospitalized, he learned. He'd call his daughters for advice. "He got to be pretty good at it," Gail says. Nothing fancy, but simple, healthy food. When Bernice died, he couldn't bring himself to sell her car — a 1985 Mercury Grand Marquis. Instead, he gave it to his only grandchild, Gail's daughter, Renee (also known as "Toot"), when she turned 16. It seemed fitting. For Mike Cohen, a car wasn't just a car, it was a sign of his love. Home Irondequoit, New York Birthplace Rochester, New York