Mark Ira Cohan

Mark Ira Cohan, 79, of Urbandale, Iowa, passed away on March 5, 2025, at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa, after a year-long battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his loving family. Born on July 21, 1945, in Brooklyn, New York, to Mollie (Rindner) and Max (Mac) Cohan, he was a devoted husband, loving father, and adored “Boppa” to his grandchildren.

As a child, Mark enjoyed playing baseball and stickball with his neighborhood friends. One of his favorite memories was attending games at Ebbets Field with his dad and seeing players like Willie Mays, Roger Maris, and Sandy Koufax. This love of baseball eventually led him to coaching his children’s teams for several years, where he encouraged the kids to try new positions, prioritizing the kids over the win.

Mark attended Sheepshead Bay High School in Brooklyn, New York, where he participated in various activities, such as National Honor Society and serving as the newspaper commissioner. It was during this time that he lost his beloved mother Mollie. After graduating with honors from high school in 1963, he attended City College of New York, where he earned his undergraduate degree in psychology in 1969. His father, Mac, always questioned how Mark was able to get through his college years without his financial support. What Mac didn’t know was that Mark was significantly better at poker than his fraternity brothers.

In 1969, he was drafted into the US Army and received his draft notice on Christmas Eve. (Per Mark, that’s what you get for being Jewish.) Upon completing basic training, he was assigned to the US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) in Boston, where he did scientific research. It was here that he met several colleagues from the Midwest, which led him to considering schools outside of the east coast when he pursued graduate school after discharge.

In 1971, Mark began graduate school at Drake University in Des Moines, IA, studying experimental psychology. Prior to classes beginning, he attended an open house at a professor’s home, where he met another student, Marcia Boal, who conveniently needed a ride home. (It also happened to be her birthday that day.) This was the beginning of their lifelong friendship.

In October 1973, after completing his graduate degree, Mark was offered a position as a psychopharmacologist with the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, a career he had to step away from after developing an allergy to the rats he was working with. Throughout his career, he worked as a systems analyst for several state agencies, including Iowa Workforce Development, where he retired in June 1999. During this time and until 2003, he worked as an adjunct professor of psychology at Des Moines Area Community College. Of his various jobs, this was his favorite.

It was during their time at Drake that Mark and Marcia’s relationship began. Not only were they of different geographical backgrounds, they were also of different faiths, something that they deeply respected about one another. They were married on January 26, 1974, in a ceremony officiated by both a rabbi and a priest. During their 51-year marriage, they continued to support and participate in each other’s religious traditions, serving as a beautiful example of respect, acceptance, and love of those with differing beliefs.

In August 1977, Mark and Marcia welcomed their first child, David, and three years later, their daughter Lisa (and that was enough). They were actively involved in their children’s lives, supporting their hobbies and interests, and participating in religious activities of both faiths. As a family, they enjoyed traveling, family game nights, and laughing at (and often rolling their eyes at) Mark’s jokes. After retiring, Mark continued to be actively involved in community service. The world will be a little less bright without him in it, and he’ll be dearly missed.

Mark is survived by his wife Marcia, son David (Jenny) Cohan, daughter Lisa (Matthew) Simon, grandchildren Ashlyn, Dawson, Caelan, Carter, and Charlotte, brother-in-law Doug Boal, sister-in-law Elaine Harris, as well as many cherished nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. He is preceded in death by his parents Max and Mollie Cohan, sister-in-law Denise Hudson, and brother-in-law Gregory Boal.

Special thanks to the incredible staff at Mission Cancer and MercyOne Oncology for their loving care of Mark.

In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to Lubavitch of Iowa (www.jewishiowa.com) or St. Theresa Catholic Church (www.sainttheresaiowa.org).