Dr. Neal P. Cohen's Obituary
Dr. Neal P. Cohen ended his lifelong global odyssey on October 9, 2024 at the E.T. York Haven Hospice Center in Gainesville, Florida.
Neal was born March 9, 1945 to Aaron and Edna Cohen in Brooklyn, NY, and started to explore the world at age 10 when they moved with the US military to Ramstein, Germany. The family explored Europe and Neal was an eager learner. After graduating from the Kaiserslautern American High School in Germany, and then the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University he earned a PhD in development economics at the University of Wisconsin.
At Wisconsin he met Jan, his wife of 55 years. Neal taught at Eastern Michigan University and St. Louis University, but he craved overseas work where he felt he could truly make a difference. So he and Jan pursued that dream.
His first international stint was teaching economics at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria, where eldest son Matthew was born. Second son Richard moved with the family as an infant when Neal accepted a Fulbright teaching fellowship in Kathmandu, Nepal, and they all moved to Arusha, Tanzania with Development Alternatives.
The international life style now decided, Neal joined the United States Agency for International Development as an economist in 1980, serving first in Washington DC and then moving overseas again with posts in Mbabane, Swaziland (now eSwatini); Colombo, Sri Lanka; Kathmandu, Nepal; Nairobi, Kenya; and Pretoria, South Africa. Neal retired from USAID as an officer in 2000, but continued with USAID as part of President Bush’s program to combat AIDS in Africa.
Neal and Jan moved to Gainesville, Florida in 2006 to live near Matthew, his wife Leah, and their three grandchildren. Neal continued short assignments overseas, including in Afghanistan, Yemen and Cambodia. Overseas travel enriched their lives, including a Himalayan trek, taking teenage grandsons to southern Africa, attending the Edinburgh Festival, and exploring Portugal. As Neal’s health worsened, he and Jan still managed trips to New York City with friends, attending the Metropolitan Opera, theatre and dance performances, all of which he loved so well.
Neal was a runner and biker, racing for pleasure and good causes, from ultra-marathons to charity events. His haul of medals and trophies lines his study, but it was always about being outdoors, with friends and testing his own limits. He followed the news, read non-fiction, and loved discussing ideas. He was a proud Rotarian and Fulbright board member.
Neal leaves friends across the globe and his loving family—Jan, Matthew, Leah, and grandchildren Sawyer, Grady and Calyra. He is predeceased by his parents Aaron and Edna, brother Jeff, and beloved second son Richard.
Always mindful of making a difference in the world, Neal donated his body to medical research and opted for no memorial service. In place of a ceremony, the family invites memorial donations to the Rotary Club of Downtown Gainesville (PO Box 358387, Gainesville, FL 32635) to support the good work of the South Sudan Healthcare Organization (https://sshco.org/).
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