Obituary

From Greenwich Time on January 30, 2022:

Cohn, Richard Joseph, aged 95, died peacefully on January 27, in Greenwich, CT, surrounded by his family and those who loved him. Born on April 27, 1926 in New York, to Frieda Bachman and Milton Cohn, he grew up in the Village, was educated at PS 41, Townsend Harris, and Peter Stuyvesant schools, finishing his undergraduate and graduate education at the University of Chicago, where he received his MBA. In 1952 he married Carol Grossman, a romantic partnership that thrived for over 60 years. A period in the Merchant Marine and later in the Navy, was followed by his long career as president at Decorative Crafts, the firm founded by his father in 1928. He was succeeded by his son Jeff. The business took him to every part of the world, but above all Italy, where he became well known as an importer of furniture and accessories and where he made many close friends. He found great pleasure in the firm's success and was ready for all its challenges, never assuming too much, welcoming the adventures and accepting the uncertainties. Private life mattered a great deal to him, and it was always clear how much he treasured the intelligence, animation and beauty of his wife, the calm of his houses in Larchmont, Sailfish Point, and Greenwich, the company of his children Jeff and Lisabeth and their spouses Brenda and Ross, and that of his grandchildren, Nick, Alex, Matt and Will. These 95 years were full, bringing him the rewards of close friendships, the discovery of new interests, from sailing and fishing to tennis, golf, music and reading, the excitement of travel and the quiet amusements of singing and watching old movies. It was a long and interesting life: he would describe it as lucky. But those around him recognized that talent, determination, hard work, skill, elegance and charm had a lot to do with it. His family meant a great deal to him, and he was unstinting in his generous, compassionate care to his widowed mother and his wife Carol; his relationships with his work colleagues and employees at home and the office were also very special. When you visited him in his old age you were always met with refined courtesy and struck by his open expression of affection, his interest in others, and a unique sort of calm. Everyone who speaks about him begins with one word: a gentleman. We who survive and remember him are deeply bereft.