Eastport mourns loss of civic leader

EASTPORT – Nathan Cohen, 88, died Saturday morning at Calais Regional Hospital after complications related to a heart problem.

The loss of one of Eastport’s more prominent residents came as a surprise to friends and family of the man who spent most of his life involved with state and local politics.

Cohen served as the mayor of the city of Eastport, as well as a member of the City Council. He was a Washington County representative on the Department of Labor Private Industry Council before he joined the Workforce Development board of directors.

Cohen remained on the board of directors until a week before his death, when he sent in his resignation, his wife, Mim Cohen, said.

The Master Mason was a life member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars and was named honorary captain in the Maine State Police

Additionally, Cohen had been a member of the Eastport Port Authority, and represented Washington and Aroostook counties on the governor’s executive council during the administrations of Govs. John Reed and James B. Longley. He also served on numerous state and local committees, commissions and boards for health care, economic development and transportation.

In 1963 he had the opportunity to converse with President John F. Kennedy, and quickly got down to business, discussing the Quoddy Tidal Power Project which directly affected his town.

“His main objective in life was helping people,” said Mim Cohen. “He saw the people of Eastport and they were good people and he thought he could help them.”

Within the last month, the always politically active Democrat was still serving as an unofficial advisor to U.S. Rep. John Baldacci.

“Nate was always very involved, very interested, and always thinking of what he could do for the region or the state,” said Baldacci. “Maine is going to miss Nate Cohen. He was part of its foundation.”

Cohen was instrumental in the development of the Port of Eastport, but will be remembered most for the way he approached and handled the world around him.

“You can’t think of him without chuckling,” said Baldacci. “He always had a joke or a laugh.”

Even when he was 88, those closest to him don’t remember him slowing down.

“He still mowed the lawn and shoveled snow up to the last year,” said Mim Cohen. “We were very close to each other and worked well together. We worked very hard to help other people and I don’t resent it at all.”

Cohen, known as a man who went after what he wanted, married his wife of 55 years after the couple had dated for three months.

When members of the United States Army drape the American flag over the casket of the former World War II soldier on Monday, he will be remembered as a businessman, a family man, and above all, a friend, said Baldacci.

One aspect of Cohen may be best remembered with a statement he made to the Bangor Daily News in 1990. He stated that his career had been, “to convince the rest of the state that Eastport isn’t the end of the United States, it’s the beginning,” Nathan Cohen said. “I love this city and I love its people. It’s the best place in the United States to live.”