Obit: Paula Cohn Of Hartford

Obituary via Molloy Funeral Home

Paula Cohn was born in Hartford, and lived in the area for her whole life, mostly within a two-mile stretch of Bloomfield Avenue. Her father William Reiner was a lawyer, and her mother, Sophie Goldberg Reiner, owned and operated Betty’s dress shop in Bishop’s Corner with her sisters Betty and Grace Goldberg.

Paula attended high school at the Northfield School in Northfield, MA, and received her bachelor’s degree in English from Barnard College in New York City. After her kids went to school, she returned to school and earned a master’s degree in psychology at the University of Hartford (also on Bloomfield Avenue!) and for a quarter of a century worked in the Hartford Public Schools, helping students and their families get the specialized attention they needed.
Paula was an avid skier, tennis player, swimmer, and reader. She loved to travel, visiting the major cities in Europe as well as far-flung locations like Indonesia. She was a wonderful cook and loved entertaining. At the River Ridge senior living facility where she spent her last 6 years, she continued to be very active, frequently seeking suitable challengers for bridge and Scrabble and participating in all social activities. She set her watch by River Ridge’s 4 o’clock happy hour.
Paula was a devoted mother who attended any and all school performances or sporting events that involved her boys. She continued as a super-fan for her grandchildren Maxwell, Charlotte, Benjamin, and Julia; they all brought Paula great joy. Beyond her immediate family, her cousins H. Darr Beiser and Margo Warren of Bethesda, MD considered her to be a “second mom”, a sentiment shared by others in her wide network of friends.
Paula was known for her quick wit, prodigious energy, big smile, warmth and generosity. She will be missed by everyone whose lives she touched.
She is survived by her sons Frederic R. Cohn, and his husband Bob Bowe of New York City; William H. Cohn and his wife Susan Dahl of Lexington, MA; Jonathan R. and Lynda Cohn of Farmington, CT; and the aforementioned grandchildren. Her sister Ann Reiner Bien of Anaheim, CA preceded her in death earlier this year. Services will be Friday at 2 pm at Molloy Funeral Home, 906 Farmington Ave. W. Hartford.

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