Donald Cohen

Donald Cohen, age 91, died peacefully at his home in Philadelphia, PA on September 15, 2011. Born February 9, 1920 to Samuel and Sadie (Horowitz) Cohen in Toms River, New Jersey, he lived most of his childhood in Buffalo, New York. After serving in the Army during World War II, he returned to Buffalo and received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Buffalo and then his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Purdue University. Donald married Helen Criden (deceased 1990) and they settled in Downers Grove. Don worked at Argonne National Laboratory as a Research Chemist until his retirement in 1981. Both Helen and Donald were active on the DG school board and in local politics. Donald was an avid gardener, a voracious reader, and stamp and coin collector. He was, even in later years when his eyesight failed, a dedicated walker who could easily travel six miles a day on foot doing errands and seeing friends. He is survived by his four children-- Carol Caswell and her husband Bruce Caswell; Barbara Cohen and her husband Martin Polinsky, Lawrence K Cohen and his wife April Dreiske Cohen, and Diane Cohen Schneider and her husband Richard Schneider. In addition, Donald was an exceptional grandfather to his seven grandchildren: Rebecca Caswell; Eliott, Ben and Michael Polinsky and Nathan, Molly and Samantha Schneider. He leaves them and all of us with a valuable philosophy of lifelove your family, love your work, help out whomever and wherever you can and stay curious about the world around you. He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him.