Clara Cohen raised a man who would become a high school basketball star, a U.S. senator and a secretary of defense.

She also had a hand, in a way, in the mothering of thousands in the Bangor area as she and her husband delivered rolls and bread for decades when they ran the Bangor Rye Bread Co.

Cohen, the mother of former Maine Sen. and Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, died late Sunday night, Mother’s Day, in Arlington, Va. She was 88 years old and had pancreatic cancer.

Clara Cohen had moved to Arlington five years ago to be closer to William and his wife, Janet Langhart Cohen.

Clara Cohen, along with her husband, Reuben “Ruby” Cohen, ran Bangor Rye, which he started in 1929. The two were married for 58 years before Reuben’s death in 1995.

“[William Cohen] had total respect for Clara and for his father, Ruby,” said Billy Miller, the owner of Miller Drug in Bangor and the son of Abe and Frieda Miller, who were friendly with the Cohens. “She enjoyed all of her days at the bakery. Not to be corny, [but] there’s a nice big bakery up there, and Ruby and Clara are running it.”

William Cohen said Monday afternoon that his parents worked closely for 60 years. Clara Cohen would arrive at the bakery at around 5:45 a.m. to help bag the finished rolls and bread, and then drive Reuben Cohen on his deliveries. Reuben Cohen was a terrible driver, William Cohen said, so his mother spent a lot of time on the road with him.

“She did all of that, and then of course had her own chores at home, took care of her home and beautiful garden,” he said.

The company was sold to Ralph and Marilyn Beckwith, Reuben and Clara Cohen’s daughter, in 1996.

Clara Cohen was born Clara Hartley in Monticello. She met Reuben Cohen at a dance hall called the Auto Rest Park in Carmel when she was 16 years old. Clara was Irish Protestant and Reuben was Jewish, which made it a rare match at that time.

In addition to gardening, Clara Cohen also enjoyed cooking and loved animals. She also painted, and William Cohen said she painted the family home three times by herself. He came home from school one afternoon, he recalled, and she was on a ladder with a bandana tied around her head, painting the house.

She also was known for her beauty and sophisticated dress. Even in her final days, William Cohen said, she dressed as if she were going out on the town even if she didn’t leave her apartment in Arlington.

“She was full of energy. She was a force,” said Judy Cuddy, a staff assistant to Sen. Susan Collins, who first met Clara Cohen in 1985 when Cuddy went to work for William Cohen.

After Reuben Cohen’s death, Clara remained in their home on East Summer Street in Bangor. William Cohen said she sometimes sat on her porch chiding speeding cars as they drove up the street. She also had a police scanner she listened to.

She never hesitated to speak her mind, William Cohen said.

“She was a very strong lady filled with Irish pride and humor and quick wit and enormous confidence,” he said. “She was very strong-willed. She didn’t speak a lot, but she had an opinion on virtually everything.”

William Cohen moved his mother to the Washington, D.C., area when she started to have health problems.

It was just her second trip to that area. The first came in 1973, when William was sworn in as a senator.

Clara Cohen was diagnosed with cancer last year and was given six months to live, William Cohen said. Her health was good until about a month ago, he added.

Cuddy said Clara Cohen was proud of her son’s accomplishments and wore a stickpin with the insignia of the U.S. secretary of defense’s office that he had given to her.

“She was always there unconditionally,” William Cohen said. “She was a great supporter, a great fan. She lit up whenever I came into the room.”

William Cohen said funeral arrangements had not been made yet but the family was planning to put together a memorial service in Maine at some point.

She also is survived by son Robert Cohen, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

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