Jay Cohen, 63, Center City deli owner

BACK in the early '90s, Jay Cohen was pondering whether to sell the popular Latimer Deli in Center City, which he had owned for 15 years.

The neighborhood around the deli, at 255 S. 15th St., was changing and night business was decreasing. Potential buyers were lined up, but Jay resisted.

"Then I had a real bad day," he told an Inquirer food writer. "Employees didn't show, two compressors went. I said, 'I'm selling.' "

So he sold the deli in 1993, and he and his wife, the former Kelly Green, took a year's vacation.

But when they got back in town, they had to decide what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives.

"They were bored," said their daughter, Rachael.

Friends told them about a sandwich shop at 19th and Sansom streets, just off Rittenhouse Square, and suggested they buy it.

In 1994, they did, called it Rachael's Nosheri, named after their then-9-year-old daughter, and a new deli was born to serve Philadelphians hungry for corned beef, lox, kippered salmon, smoked fish and the rest of the traditional Jewish delicacies.

Jay Cohen, who was an accountant by trade before entering the deli business, died June 28 of heart disease. He was 63 and lived in Center City.

His daughter is now running the deli, with some help from her mother, who enjoys helping out.

Jay was born in Philadelphia to Ruben and Edith Cohen. He grew up in Mount Airy and graduated from Germantown High School in 1965. He studied accounting at Philadelphia University, and was a self-employed certified public accountant.

"He wasn't capable of working for anyone else," his daughter explained.

In 1981, he and a partner bought the Latimer Deli, a neighborhood landmark for 40 years, but one that had been losing business because it lacked the Jewish touch.

They restored its aromatic ambience and it thrived.

As the Inquirer's John Corr wrote in 1983, "The soul of the Latimer Deli is in good hands."

Jay carried his ebullient personality with him when he and his wife started the Nosheri, which is Yiddish for an informal eating place. They were married in 1982.

As the host with the most at the Nosheri, Jay loved to kibbitz with customers, making everyone feel at home in the friendly atmosphere he created.

"He really loved people," Rachael said. "The deli was the perfect business for him. He always tried to help people. It was what he was all about.

"He was a hardworking man. He would work 80 hours a week. It didn't leave him much time for hobbies or travel."

Rachael began running the deli the past several months, with consultation from her father, who regularly showed up to help out.

Jay Cohen rarely mentioned that he was a cousin of the late actor Paul Newman. Their grandmothers were sisters, but they hardly ever saw each other.

He also is survived by a sister, Gail Sahl. He was predeceased by another sister, Sandy Ciavardone.

Services: Were June 30.