Florence Cohen, 97, longtime activist for many causes
She was chief of staff for her husband, the late City Councilman David Cohen.
WHEN FLORENCE and David Cohen were married in New York City in 1946, they had time for only a quick honeymoon. Florence's union was on strike.
Her dedication to the union, United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America, for which she traveled up and down the East Coast as an organizer, was an early example of Florence's lifelong devotion to causes of benefit to ordinary people.
"She was a voice of the people," said her daughter, Sherrie Cohen, a Philadelphia lawyer and current candidate for a City Council at-large seat. "She was a force of nature. Every day and every decade, she was devoted to trying to make the world a better place."
Florence Cohen, union and community activist going back to her teenage years; chief of staff for her husband, the late City Councilman David Cohen; a woman who threw herself into issues that she felt passionately about well into her 90s, died Saturday. She was 97 and lived in an assisted-living home in Cherry Hill.
After her husband died on Oct. 3, 2005, at the age of 90, Florence filed to fill out his term in Council in a special election. She was 88.
The Democratic Party chose Bill Greenlee instead, and he won the election.
Florence and David Cohen met when both were working for the Rural Electrification Administation, one of President Franklin Roosevelt's efforts to ease the effects of the Great Depression.
Florence Herzog, born in the Bronx, earned a bachelor's degree in economics from George Washington University and a master's in education from the University of Pennsylvania.
She began her union organizing in New York with the United Public Workers of America.
After moving to Philadelphia, she organized the Ogontz Area Neighbors Association. She co-founded and was first chairwoman of the New Democratic Coalition of Philadelphia and was first president of Grannies for Peace, which often took protests to the streets.
A strong feminist, Florence was a member of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Organization for Women. She was project director of the Pennsylvania Program for Women and Girl Offenders.
"She was a brilliant woman," said her son, state Rep. Mark Cohen. "She was a strong advocate for causes that made life better for ordinary people. And she was a very caring mother."
Florence managed to raise four children amid her many activities. She accomplished that partly by getting little sleep. She would be up until the wee hours, typing proclamations for her husband, then be up at the crack of dawn to pursue her duties.
Florence and her husband attended the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s rally in Washington, D.C., in 1963.
Back in the "Red Scare" days of the '50s, Florence was summoned before a grand jury investigating spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. She was asked about her associations and took the Fifth Amendment 34 times. After her testimony, she was not summoned again. The Rosenbergs were executed in 1953.
Florence taught social studies at Barrett Junior High School and Philadelphia High School for Girls in the '70s, and at Community College of Philadelphia.
"She was my foundation and inspiration," said Sherrie Cohen.
Besides her daughter and son, Florence is survived by another son, Common Pleas Judge Denis Cohen; another daughter, Judy Minches, a freelance reporter and blogger, and six grandchildren.
Services: Noon today at Goldsteins' Rosenberg's Raphael-Sacks, 6410 N. Broad St. Shiva will be held tonight at the home of Judy and David Minches. Saturday night, Shiva will be observed at the home of Sherrie Cohen and Virginia Gutierrez.
Donations may be made to Bread & Roses Community Fund, 1315 Walnut St., Philadelphia 19107.