Obituary of Brian Cohen

Brian Cohen of Oak Hill, VA, age 61, passed away unexpectedly on January 22, 2022.  Brian was born in Washington, D.C. in January 1960 to Martin and Nancy Cohen.  He leaves behind his wife Deborah, daughter Hannah(fiance Cory Knowles), and son Samuel and his younger siblings Anne Meyer (husband Anthony Meyer),  Jonathan Cohen (wife Stacey Cohen) and David Cohen (wife Jenny Cohen).  Brian also leaves behind his Nieces Jessica Petrie, Kaitlyn Rea, Kara Rea, Martina Cohen, Faith Smith, Moriah Smith and nephew Benjamin Smith whom he always enjoyed spending time with and teasing (rather relentlessly).

Brian grew up in Montgomery County, Maryland with his younger brother’s and sisters before graduating high school early to attend Carnegie Mellon University earning a bachelors in both Electrical Engineering and Mathematics.  Brian went on to earn a Master Electrical Engineering from University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a PHD in Engineering from Dartmouth College.  After College, Brian went on to work at the Institute for Defense Analyses for more than 25 years before “retiring”.  For Brian, retirement meant the rekindling of a long held goal of starting his own consulting firm and getting back to working to help on various Public Sector projects.

Outside of work, Brian was devoted to his wife and children, with strict orders for all to enjoy family dinners every day (even if it meant multiple specialty meal orders).  And if you knew Brian, you would know no dish was complete (in his opinion) without hot sauce.  Dinner was about family, but brought to the table his love for food adventure (perfecting his Ma Po Tofu recipe).  Outside of his immediate family, he never ceased to work to keep his extended family coming together, though often making them travel across the country to spend time vacationing together.  His love and caring for others extended well beyond family though, as evidenced by his non-stop efforts to support others living with Diabetes through local support meetups and online communities.

The family is planning a memorial service on Tuesday, January 25 at 11am at the Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation in Reston, VA.  In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations be made in Brian’s memory to the ACLU (The American Civil Liberties Union).