Lester Cohen, retired chairman and CEO of C&S Wholesale Grocers, died April 19 in Boca Raton, FL. He passed away peacefully at home with his wife Norma by his side. He had recently celebrated his 98th birthday.
Cohen was born to Lena (Goodwin) and Israel Cohen on February 26, 1924, in Worcester, MA. He was educated at Worcester’s Classical High School, graduating in 1942. After graduation, he started college at Boston University, but WWII interrupted his studies and he left school to serve his country. He listed in the U.S. Army Air Corps where he served as a navigator on B24s as part of an aircrew unit in the Pacific Theater. He flew 52 combat missions and was the recipient of the Asiatic Pacific Theater Ribbon with four Bronze Stars and the Philippine Liberation Camp Ribbon Air Medal with two OLC and two Service Bars. He was honorably discharged at the rank of First Lieutenant in 1945.
In August 1946, Cohen married Norma Russem in Boston at a simple service at the Copley Hotel. They would have celebrated their 76th anniversary this summer.
Cohen started working at the family-owned business when he was five years old helping his father Israel and partner Abraham Siegel, who co-founded the wholesale grocer in 1918. After college and his military service, he returned to the business full-time and assumed the chairman and CEO duties from his father in 1955. By this time, the company had grown into a successful mid-sized wholesale grocery distributor, operating out of a 35,000 square foot warehouse in Worcester.
The company continued to grow throughout the 1960s and 1970s. By 1974, when Cohen’s son Rick joined the business, the company’s annual sales had reached $14 million. Cohen retired in 1990.
Cohen is survived by his wife Norma; sons Robert A. Cole (Mary Jo) of Palm Beach Gardens, FL, James R. Cohen (Susan) of Bozeman MT and Richard B. Cohen (Jan) of Keene, NH; grandchildren Kate Mulcahy, Leslie Cohen, Alex Cohen, Perry Cohen, Jill Cohen and Rachel Kanter; eight great-grandchildren, with one more on the way; and cousins, nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. He was predeceased by his sister Dolly Gruber.
Contributions in Cohen’s memory may be made to the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College, 229 Main Street, Keene, NH 03431; or to the Congregation Ahavas Achim, 84 Hastings Avenue, Keene, NH, 03431.