ANNIE COHEN

January 2, 2022, formerly of Dresher, PA. Annie Cohen's Life was Focused on Family and Education Annie lived for her children! When she referred to her children, she meant her 3 loving children Lisa, Evelyn, and Allan, her grandchildren David and Leslie, and generations of Hebrew school students at Temple Sinai in Dresher, PA and Philadelphia public school students at Ethan Allen School, William Cramp Elementary School, and Ada Lewis Middle School. Annie was born in the Russian-Jewish community in Shanghai, China and lived there until she was 15 years old. She was an only child and orphaned at a young age, so she always dreamed of having a family and bonded with her school friends who became life-long friends. When the Maoist revolution in China forced many non-Chinese to flee, Annie's beloved aunt took her with her on a Jewish refugee boat bound for the newly established Jewish homeland, Israel. After a long journey and stopover for processing in Cypress, Annie spent her first 6 months in Israel living in a refugee camp. Later she graduated high school from the famous Zionist agricultural boarding school Nahalal and then served in the Israeli Defense Forces. She met the love of her life Dieter Cohen, himself a former refugee and veteran (U.S.), on a trip to the United States at age 23. They had 3 children and were married for nearly 50 years until Annie was widowed. Annie and Dieter raised their family initially in Roxborough, Philadelphia and then Dresher, PA. Annie was a mainstay at Temple Sinai for 3 decades, teaching Hebrew language and Siddur prayers to the children in the Aleph and Bet grades and leading their High Holiday Services. She began her public-school teaching career with special education students and then found her calling teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Her personal experiences as a refugee and immigrant gave her a deeper understanding of the challenges facing these children. As a mother of 3, Annie went to college. She received a Bachelor of Hebrew Literature from Gratz College, a Bachelors of Science in Education from Temple University, and a Master of Education from Beaver College (now called Arcadia University). Annie is survived by daughters Lisa Burton (Richard) of Johns Creek, GA and Evelyn Cohen of Johns Creek, GA, son Allan Cohen of New York, NY, and grandchildren David and Leslie. Graveside Services will be held at Shalom Memorial Park, Wed. Jan 5. 1 PM. Services will also be held via Zoom. Shiva will be held at former residence in Dresher, PA and via Zoom on Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7 PM and Friday afternoon at 2 PM.Contributions in Annie's memory may be made to the Alzheimer's Association Longest Day fundraiser in memory of Annie and Dieter Cohen at http://act.alz.org/goto/AnnieDieter.