Martin Cohen

Martin Jay Cohen died Friday, July 11, in Abington, after a brief illness. Marty was the beloved husband of Cheryl, and loving father of Jan and Zach, and grandfather of Simon. He is also survived by Jan’s husband, Dan, and Zach’s partner, Annie, and his sister-in-law Marcy, as well as many colleagues, friends and neighbors. He was preceded in death by his parents, Philip and Betty, and his sister Lynne.

Marty was born October 31, 1949, in the Point Breeze section of Philadelphia. He was raised in Mount Airy and graduated from Germantown High. He had an engineering degree from Drexel. He spent decades working in a civilian role at the Navy Yard, spending many lunches and dinners at Deep South Philly’s finest restaurants with friends, family and colleagues.

He married Cheryl, née Podberesky, in 1984. The two made a wonderful pair. They shared a sense of humor. Marty was in charge of getting things down from high shelves, and Cheryl was in charge of telling him what things needed to be taken down from the high shelves. He made the coffee in the morning, and was always in charge of dinner. They loved going on trips, especially to Ventnor and Ocean City. The longtime Montgomeryville residents moved to Towamencin five years ago.

But of course his greatest role was as a father. He guided Jan and Zach through childhood and saw them blossom into wonderful adults. Upon retirement he continued to be active in their lives and in the community. He supported the Engineering program at Kensington High School. He attended protests for causes he believed in. He and Cheryl doted on their grand-kitty, Detective John Munch.

In 2022 he actually threw himself into politics out of that desire to improve his community. He made phone calls, knocked on doors and ran as part of the Towamencin NOPE slate of candidates for a township government study commission. He won, and eventually the sale of the township’s water system was stopped. The Towamencin sewer remains in the hands of the public.

He picked up another important role late in life. HIs grandson, Simon Jude Cohen-McQuade, was born to his daughter Jan in 2023. For 19 months Marty relished being zayde to Simon. He was Simon’s favorite. “To the penthouse!” was Marty’s rallying cry when he picked up Simon, and he loved reading The Going to Bed Book to him. Simon brought the whole family closer, and the Cohens are now part of the Hall and McQuade families, too. Though they had a short time together, Simon is already carrying on many Cohen traditions: Quick wit, good humor, kindheartedness and height.

Marty was a wonderful person who left a lasting mark on the Philadelphia area. He will be sorely missed. Services are at 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 15, at Goldsteins’ Rosenberg’s, 6410 N. Broad St., in Philadelphia. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to The Everywhere Project, everywhereproject.org, or to the donor’s choice.