General Information

Full Name: Raymond H. Cohen
Date of Death: Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Raymond H. Cohen of Paterson, NJ passed away on January 4, 2023 at the age of 80 in Valley Hospital, Ridgewood, NJ
Ray was born on April 12, 1942 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson, NJ. He spent his childhood years in that once glorious city, and attended Eastside High School. During his teen aged years, he was part of the “3 Musketeers” with Bobby Cohen and Saul Alter who caused much mischief (although harmless) in the streets of Paterson. The “Musketeers” became lifelong friends and extended family. After graduating high school, Ray and Saul enlisted together in the United States Navy. Ray was assigned to the US Independence and worked as a telegraph operator/radioman He served from August of 1959 to April of 1963 Years after his honorable discharge, he was able to find a shirt with a picture of the US Independence printed on it and wore it
proudly until his death.
After his release from the Navy, Ray was hired by Automatic Data Processing to deliver payrolls. He worked hard and was promoted to a position where he traveled the US and Canada teaching the computerized payroll program to various ADP staff until his retirement.
In 1966, he married Cookie Alter and settled in Paterson. They and their 3 children (Gail, Mike and Brian) subsequently moved to Elmwood Park and then to Edison NJ. Cookie and Ray were divorced in 1987 yet remained close friends. Ray met Linda (Sudsy) Simpson and moved to West Milford. He and Suds were together for over 25 years before Ray moved back to Paterson.
Ray was an avid bowler and loved to play softball. He was also a huge sports fan and you could often see him decked out from head to toe in Yankee gear. He spent many wonderful afternoons at Yankee Stadium with his sister-in-law, Judi cheering on his favorite team. He loved gadgets and was one of Amazon’s best customers. He had the newest version of the IPhone but was often calling Gail or best bud Dixon to help him figure out how something worked.
He loved to travel and especially enjoyed his trips to Georgia to visit his son and his Georgia family. He also enjoyed many wonderful times at the shore at Mike’s house and family gatherings hosted by Gail. Ray looked forward to the annual family BBQ now hosted by Scott and Stacey where he enjoyed catching up with
family and old friends.
Although Ray had many health challenges over the years, he bravely took it all in stride and made the most of it. If at all possible, he did not let it get in the way of spending time with the people he loved and the people who loved him. “Ray Ray” is survived by his daughter Gail Cohen of South Plainfield, NJ and her partner Lance Spontak. He is also survived by his son Brian (Rebecca Cohen) of Kennesaw, Georgia and Michael (Valenis) Cohen of Bayville, NJ. He has 6 wonderful grandchildren who brought so much love and joy to his life. They are Nicolas, Sean, Sadie, Molly, Jack and Justin.
He is predeceased by his brother, Stuart in 1997 and by his partner, Linda in 2022.