Linda Ellen Cohen

Linda Ellen Cohen, 76, of High Springs, Florida and Middlebury, Vermont, passed away peacefully on August 5, 2023 after a 12 year journey with metastatic breast cancer. She was born October 20, 1946, to Philip and Mollie Kerson (neé Dermer) and became an older sister to Donna Kern 6 years later.

We are lucky to have known and loved someone like Linda. She joyfully lived each of her days with a warm fire that brightened every room she entered. You just wanted to be around her. We will miss her terribly.

Linda was a one-of-a-kind daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, and grandmother. She is survived by her husband Harold (Hal), son Mitchell, granddaughter Meira, grandson Napthali, sister Donna, brother-in-law Barry Cohen, cousins Irene Venoff, Mark and Susan Kantor, Keith and Karen Kantor, and Maddy Fink and her husband Ray, niece Corey Lobuglio and her husband John and sons, Cole and Mason, nephew Doug Sherman, niece Mindy Machera (Cohen) and her husband Matthew Machera and son Lucca, nephew Jeremy Cohen and his wife Wendy Chow, and finally, by her dogs, Riley, Lexi, and most of all, Oscar.

You might take the girl out of the Bronx, but you can’t take the Bronx out of the girl. Born in the Bathgate section of the Bronx into the tightknit family of a postman, she graduated from Evander Childs High School and went to Hunter College to prepare for her life’s calling, teaching. After Hunter, Linda briefly moved west to Los Angeles, but her New York spirit brought her back and for good reason.

Having begun her teaching career in the south Bronx, Linda’s life would forever be changed by her attendance at a wedding on June 29, 1968 where Lottie Cohen noticed her among the crowd, turned to her husband Sam and said ‘that girl is beautiful and would be great for (their bachelor son then at law school), Hal.’ When Lottie had an idea, she tended to get her way. And so began their electric 55-year love affair, marrying exactly one year to the day later.

Quite simply, Linda and Hal were soulmates. Their lives together began first in New York, followed by a stop in Washington D.C. for Hal to finish law school, and finally settling in Florida. Linda was campaign manager for Hal’s first run for County Judge in 1976 and was a tremendous hit on the campaign trail.

Linda cherished her family and was a constant presence in their lives, nurturing relationships and helping each member discover a new side of themselves. But she was most proud of her son, Mitchell, and the wonderful grandchildren he brought her. She taught Mitchell to respect and appreciate all people, and Linda was a wonderful example of just how to do that.

A lover of the English language, Linda taught it across five decades in New York, Chevy Chase and Palm Beach County schools. A voracious reader, she enjoyed a broad and diverse range of the literary spectrum but John Steinbeck was her absolute favorite author and believed East of Eden was the greatest book of all time. She was touched by another favorite, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and loved introducing her students to the likes of Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou. She detested the recent movements in Florida to ban books and prohibit honest discussion of hard truths about the American experience in a public-school setting.

Linda and Hal enjoyed 17 active years of retirement, even while enduring countless treatments, splitting their time between Florida and Vermont, surrounded by friends and family, and of course, their dogs. They volunteered, learned to paint, travelled and enjoyed an active social life. But it was volunteering at Mill Creek Farm, a home for retired horses, where Linda unexpectedly found peace. They rejoiced when she convinced her beloved sister-in-law, Bonnie, to buy the house next door in Middlebury and relished living next door for part of each year to her, Barry, and their dogs for her final 9 years.

A memorial service will take place at 930am on Wednesday August 9, 2023 at IJ Morris Star of David, 9321 Memorial Park Rd., West Palm Beach, Florida. Donations in Linda’s honor and memory can be made to Mill Creek Farm for Retired Horses in Alachua, Florida and the University of Vermont Cancer Center – Burlington, Vermont.