PORTLAND – Evelyn “Evvy” (Brenner) Cohen, 93, a longtime Saco resident, died on Aug. 31, 2019. The daughter of Isidore and Sadie Brenner, she grew up in Lawrence, Mass., with her older sister, Vita, and younger brother, Merrill “Sonny”. After graduating from Lawrence High School, where she won a school-wide competition for best essay, Evvy attended a two-year medical assistant training program in Cleveland. She became a medical editor and administrator and worked in Miami and Chicago (her favorite city, where she spent seven years) before moving back to Massachusetts for a position with the Harvard Department of Neurobiology. There, she worked with 1981 Nobel Prize winners Torsten Wiesel and David Hubel. Evvy moved to Saco in 1966 and married the love of her life, Bernard Cohen. They had one child, Andrew, and were married until Bernard’s death in 1977. A voracious reader who loved jazz, theater, and dancing up a storm, Evvy was also an active volunteer. She tutored elementary school students, advocated for domestic violence victims, and canvassed for social justice causes and political candidates. Evvy is survived by her son, Andrew, daughter-in-law, Karen; three grandchildren, Abigail, Clara, and Sydney; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. The family would like to thank Kathy Rielly and Reuben Bell for their heartwarming friendship and devotion to Evvy over the past years, and their extraordinary efforts to help her and make her laugh since she was hospitalized in May. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 4, at the Jewish Funeral Home, 471 Deering Ave., Portland. In lieu of flowers,contributions can be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center at splcenter.org
