Michey Cohen was 87
Michey Cohen was 87
Raymond (Mickey) Cohen, founder of Cohen Produce Marketing, headquartered in Aspers, PA, died April 20 after a long illness. He was 87.
Mr. Cohen began his produce career in the Harrisburg, PA, area when, at age 14, he dropped out of school in the eighth grade to help support his family during the Great Depression. He worked with his father throughout south central Pennsylvania as a street peddler and then as a trucker-wholesaler, distributing produce to local stores and markets until he entered the U.S. Navy during World War II. He served in the South Pacific on a troop transport and supply ship.
After the war, Mr. Cohen started brokering local fruits and vegetables to area supermarkets. He also sold Christmas trees and fruit baskets during the holiday season at the Broad Street Market in Harrisburg.
As his business grew with retailers on the East Coast, he established an office in Adams County, PA, where he specialized in apples, peaches and local soft fruits. He also handled potatoes, cabbage and corn from North and South Carolina as well as from the Eastern Shore.
His son, Sandy, entered the business after graduating from college in 1974; the company was incorporated as Raymond "Mickey" Cohen & Son Inc. in 1982. Another son, Howard, entered the business in 1991. The two brothers continue to run the firm, which specializes in apples and pears from the East Coast and the Pacific Northwest, under the Cohen Produce Marketing name. The company also handles such items as East Coast peaches, cantaloupes and summer vegetables and has satellite offices in Chelan, Yakima and Port Angeles, WA.
Mr. Cohen retired as president of Cohen Produce Marketing in 1988 at age 70 and moved to Florida, where he would visit the Pompano Beach Farmers Market to keep in touch with those he had worked with over the years.
He was a member of Beth El Temple in Harrisburg, B'nai Torah Synagogue in Boca Raton, the Boca Lago Country Club in Boca Raton and the Jewish War Veterans.
Mr. Cohen is survived by his wife, the former Rhea Jaschik, whom he married in December 1946; sons, Sandy, Howard and Nelson, an attorney in Bethesda, MD; and six grandchildren.
Services were held April 22 with burial at Beth El Temple Cemetery in Harrisburg. Memorial donations may be made to the Jewish Home of Greater Harrisburg, 4000 Linglestown Road, Harrisburg, PA 17112 or Beth El Temple, 2637 N. Front St., Harrisburg, PA 17110.
Mr. Cohen began his produce career in the Harrisburg, PA, area when, at age 14, he dropped out of school in the eighth grade to help support his family during the Great Depression. He worked with his father throughout south central Pennsylvania as a street peddler and then as a trucker-wholesaler, distributing produce to local stores and markets until he entered the U.S. Navy during World War II. He served in the South Pacific on a troop transport and supply ship.
After the war, Mr. Cohen started brokering local fruits and vegetables to area supermarkets. He also sold Christmas trees and fruit baskets during the holiday season at the Broad Street Market in Harrisburg.
As his business grew with retailers on the East Coast, he established an office in Adams County, PA, where he specialized in apples, peaches and local soft fruits. He also handled potatoes, cabbage and corn from North and South Carolina as well as from the Eastern Shore.
His son, Sandy, entered the business after graduating from college in 1974; the company was incorporated as Raymond "Mickey" Cohen & Son Inc. in 1982. Another son, Howard, entered the business in 1991. The two brothers continue to run the firm, which specializes in apples and pears from the East Coast and the Pacific Northwest, under the Cohen Produce Marketing name. The company also handles such items as East Coast peaches, cantaloupes and summer vegetables and has satellite offices in Chelan, Yakima and Port Angeles, WA.
Mr. Cohen retired as president of Cohen Produce Marketing in 1988 at age 70 and moved to Florida, where he would visit the Pompano Beach Farmers Market to keep in touch with those he had worked with over the years.
He was a member of Beth El Temple in Harrisburg, B'nai Torah Synagogue in Boca Raton, the Boca Lago Country Club in Boca Raton and the Jewish War Veterans.
Mr. Cohen is survived by his wife, the former Rhea Jaschik, whom he married in December 1946; sons, Sandy, Howard and Nelson, an attorney in Bethesda, MD; and six grandchildren.
Services were held April 22 with burial at Beth El Temple Cemetery in Harrisburg. Memorial donations may be made to the Jewish Home of Greater Harrisburg, 4000 Linglestown Road, Harrisburg, PA 17112 or Beth El Temple, 2637 N. Front St., Harrisburg, PA 17110.
