Cohen, Gary_2013/07/10, Oral History, July 10, 2013

Prepared for: Gloria Bein Jewish Historical Society July 10, 2013 Gary Mayer Cohen May 11, 1944 Hartford, CT 604 Garden Street, Hartford. CT 292 Edgewood St_ Hartford, CT Grades k thru middle of 4th: Bracket School - Westland St - Hartford, CT Grades mid 4th thru 6th: Vine St School, Vine Street, Hartford, CT Grades 7th thru 8th: Jones Junior High, Woodland St., Hartford, CT Grades 9th thru 12th: Weaver high School, Ridgefield ST, Hartford, CT BA: University of Connecticut - Mathematics MS: Rensellear Polytechnic Institute; Computer Science MBA: Univ of Hartford - Insurance Married June 1966 - Michele Ann Loffmin, Cong. Beth Israel by Rabbi Feldman Two Children: Philip Michael Cohen Kimberly Cohen Howe Married: July 1992 - Karin Carlson Cohen -Tikvoh Chadoshoh - Rabbi Bodenheimer Five Grandchildren: Adam, Jacob and David Cohen Ryan and Kyle Howe Religious: Attended Hebrew school and bar Mitzvah’ed at Beth Hamedresh Hagodol, aka Garden Street Shul Children bar and bat mitzvah at Agudas Achim - West Hartford, CT Grandson bar mitzvah'ed at B’nai Tikvoh Sholom, Bloomfield Currently entire family belongs to B'nai Tikvoh Sholom

Employment: Occupation Computer Dase Base designer and administrator Studio K photographers -1971 to present: Owner and photographer. West Hartford Leisure Services - 2008-2012 Instructor for 5 Computer Courses and 3 photography courses West Hartford Public School - 2013 Substitute teacher in mathematics Paternal Grandparents: Fannie Pitetsky Cohen and Max Cohen (aka Modecai Kilikovski) Birthplace: Wolkowysk, Poland/Russia Narrative: My paternal grandfather immigrated to the United States in 1923. His name in Europe was Modecai Kilikovski but upon arrival to America his brother was already here (Sam Cohen) and so he became Max Cohen. He left his wife and 6 children in Wolkowysk. His occupation was as a barber. By 1929, he had saved enough money to provide passage for his family to the US. His wife and four youngest children came to the US. The two eldest, Celia and Hannah were married, and one already had a child. The two families that remained in Poland were eventually killed by the nazis when they overran and destroyed the entire town. The four surviving children, in descending age, were Charles, Abraham, Lillian and Sylvia. Charles (Charlie) and Abraham (Abe) both joined their father as barbers and they were also both accomplished trumpet players. For many years each had their own bands and played at many, many Jewish functions for over thirty years. They were partners in the barbering business (Charles Barber Shop), before my times on Capitol Avenue, then on Garden Street, corner of Mather from the 40's thru the mid 50's. In the mid 50's they moved their business next to the Crown Market on Albany Avenue in Hartford and in 1967 moved the barber shop to Bloomfield. Charles married Jean Cohen (note: no name change needed.); Lillian married Yale Sockut; Sylvia married Morris Block. Maternal Grandparents: Sarah Balaban Zetoff and Morris Zetoff. Birthplace: Poland Narrative: My maternal grandfather immigrated to the US in 1917, leaving his wife and four children behind. Arriving in Hartford, he became a cooper (barrel maker) starting Reliable Barrel Company. BY 1922 he had saved enough money to provide passage for his wife and four children to come to America. They were, in descending age, Joseph, Ida, Lillian and Max. Joseph eventually went into the upholstery business, Max into the barrel business and Ida and Lillian house wives. Joseph married Fannie Tabansky; Max married Irene Oulgoruck and Ida married Sam Bernstein. Parents: Lillian and Abraham Cohen My father, Abe Cohen, at age 19, went immediately to work upon his arrival to America. My mother was 9 years old when she arrived in America in 1922 not speaking a word of English. She attended Brackett School, Northeast Junior High and graduated Weaver High School. In 1927, after only 5 years in the USA, she competed in the spelling bee sponsored by the Hartford Times and won the greater Hartford spelling championship. Her trophy was proudly displayed as the largest trophy in the principal's office at Northeast Jr High. She went onto the National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC where she finished 6th in the nation, unable to correctly spell "misspend". In 1981, upon reading in the newspaper that Bracket School was about to be torn down I was able to retrieve that trophy.

My parents were married in 1936 by Rabbi Morris Silverman. My mother kept a very kosher house, even to the point of having red and blue striped dish towels. She would not cook, write, etc on Shabbat. Since my father was a barber, he was required to be open on Saturday so we rarely went to shul on normal Saturdays. We belonged to the Garden Street Shul, then Chevra Lumdai Mishnayes which eventually merged into the Teferes Israel. There were three children in our family. My sister Judy Cohen Silverman was born in 1939. She graduated Weaver with High Honors in 1957, the "Egan Era". She married Herbert Silverman a few weeks after high school graduation. On July 14th, 2013 they'll celebrate their 56th wedding anniversary. They have four children and 7 grandchildren. They currently reside in North Easton, Massachusetts. My brother Harvey Cohen was born in 1947. Since we moved out of Hartford shortly after my graduation from Weaver in 1962, he graduated from Conard High in West Hartford. After high school, he graduated UConn and then Tufts Dental School and is a practicing dentist in Newton, Massachusetts. He married in 1970 to Nancy Lieberman Cohen. They have three daughters and two grandchildren, all living in the Boston, Massachusetts area.

I have resided in the Hartford area all my life. I lived with my parents at 18 Alderwood Drive in West Hartford from 1962¬1966 while attending UConn. I married the day before graduation from UConn, spent my honeymoon at the Nevele in the Catskills and took up residence in East Hartford near my work for United Aircraft Research Laboratories. In 1967 I bought a house at 3 Cyrus Lane, Bloomfield, which I lived in until 1992. In 1992 I moved to another house in Bloomfield at 15 Rundelane where I currently live. We (my wife Karin and I) have belonged to B'nai Tikvoh Sholom since (aka BTS) around 1990. We are currently very active at BTS. I am currently president of the BTS Men's Club, my wife is president of the BTS Sisterhood, and my son Phil directs both the Kadima Youth and our USY Chapter at BTS. All five of my grandchild attend Hebrew school at BTS. Our eldest grandson Adam was the first to be Bar Mitzvah at BTS after the merger between Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh and B’Nai Sholom. tn May 1999 I retired from United Technologies Research Center, just three days after my 55th birthday. Having established my own photography business as a part time avocation in 1971, after retirement from UTRC I put my time and efforts into that business. My son joined me in our business as a videographer in 1981, days after his Bar Mitzvah from Agudas Achim. During the second half of my career at UTRC I was able to travel extensively throughout the United States and have continued my love of travel since then. During the last few years my wife and I have been able to travel to Europe three times. On each of our trips we were able to visit many Jewish related sites. In Italy, we visited the synagogue and the Jewish ghetto in Rome; The great synagogue in Florence; and the 5 synagogues in the Jewish ghetto of Venice. We also discovered a Jewish cemetery within the shadows of the leaning tower of Piza. My daughter researched this cemetery and found information that the first Jews of Italy came into the port of Livorno which is very close to Pisa. On our second European trip, we traveled by river boat from Amsterdam to Budapest. We visited many Jewish sites and memorials on that trip, from Holland, to Germany, to Slovakia, to Vienna and then in Budapest. On our third European trip, which also started out in Amsterdam but cruised the Baltic countries, we visited the countries of Holland, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia and Denmark. In Russia and Denmark we were able to take land tours specifically intended to visit Jewish sites. I was able to daven in the great shul in St. Petersburg. On this trip we purchased the Tallit for my eldest grandson at the Portugese Synagogue in Amsterdam and his Kipah at the synagogue in St. Petersburg. I was very lucky to have grown up with parents who instilled the value of family and education. All nine of my parents grandchildren graduated college and we continue to maintain very strong family bonds in our senior years. Anecdotes: Even though my mother never was able to attend college, education was a definite priority in her life. She would always tell me, "Get as much education as you can. They can never take that away from you." At 5 years old, I refused to go to kindergarten. I did eventually go to kindergarten for the "second semester". During that time prior to entering kindergarten, my mother took on the education process. When I eventually entered school, my math skills were already at the multiplication level at the 4th grade level. In 1984, when I was completing work on my second master’s degree, my mother would always call and ask: "Can I help you with any of your homework?"