Rita Feldman Cohen died on Tuesday, August 18, after a long battle with cancer. She was 80 years old. Mrs. Cohen was born in Rochester, New York on August 1, 1935. She attended Brighton High School, where she was salutatorian, class treasurer and editor of the Trapezoid school newspaper. She attended Cornell University on a full scholarship. There she was, a founding member and vice president of Phi Sigma Sigma's Beta Xi chapter. She was active in women's student government, a writer for the Cornell Daily Sun, a member of the Komosaeidien musical theatre group, and an active member of the Panhellenic Dancing Chorus. After graduating with a degree in English, Mrs. Cohen was hired by the University of Pennsylvania Press as an editor of academic textbooks. She married Harvey Cohen in 1959, and the couple lived in West Orange before moving to Livingston in 1960. Mrs. Cohen entered the Montclair State College Teachers' Training Program for Secondary Schools and began a career as a substitute teacher. She continued her studies at Montclair State, earning a master's degree in English in 1962. She joined the faculty of Montclair State's Department of English as adjunct professor. She pursued additional doctoral studies at Drew University as well. She then founded Rita F. Cohen Educational Associates in West Orange and Livingston, specializing in SAT tutoring and other test preparation. Mrs. Cohen is survived by her husband of 56 years, Harvey Cohen; her children, Susan Cohen Pannullo and Jeffrey Cohen; her son-in-law, Joseph Pannullo; her daughters-in-law, Chris Meltzer Cohen and Michelle Cohen Samansky; and seven grandchildren and four step-grandchildren. Private funeral services and shiva were held on August 19. Donations in Mrs. Cohen's memory can be made to the New York Brain Tumor Project of Weill Cornell Medical College, c/o Dr. Susan C. Pannullo, 525 East 68th Street, Box 99, New York, NY 10021.w York, NY 10021.
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