Remembering Howard Cohen, a Savannah weightlifting legend

Howard Cohen, the patriarch of Savannah's well known Cohen weightlifting family, died at the age of 91 on Thursday.

A graduate of Benedictine Military School (Class of 1950) and Armstrong College, Cohen served his country during the Korean War in the Air Force. Cohen opened Savannah's first weightlifting gym in 1952, and the Hostess City became a hotbed for the sport in the United States.

Cohen coached his son, Michael Cohen, who made the U.S. Olympic Weightlifting Team in 1980. Michael went on to coach U.S. Olympic squads in 2000 and 2004.

At 5-foot-3 and about 150 pounds, Howard Cohen wasn't the stereotypical burly weight lifter, but he loved everything about the sport and became a competitive dynamo as a 10-time Pan American champion who won 32 national championships.

Cohen was a Golden Gloves boxer in his youth, but his mother was not a fan of the sport and convinced him to step out of the ring. That's when he got into Olympic weight lifting, Michael Cohen said.

"He was like the Mighty Atom, he was short in stature but had the biggest heart — so weight lifting was perfect for him because he competed in weight classes with guys who were the same size," Michael Cohen said. "He fell in love with it and took it all the way to the 1956 Olympic Trials."

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Michael Cohen said his father had a freak accident lifting and hurt his neck, leading to being in a body cast that ended his Olympic dreams. But he never lost his competitive fire and was instrumental in the growth of the sport as the head of U.S. Masters Weightlifting from 1995-2016. He ran Howard's Gym in Savannah for more than 50 years, and was still working out regularly until the last few weeks at the Anderson/Cohen Weightlifting Center in Savannah named after him and Paul Anderson, the Vidalia native who won a gold medal in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne.

"My dad was really close with Paul (Anderson) who was over 300 pounds," Michael Cohen said. "They used to perform at the Lucas Theatre — where you could see the strongest man in the world lifting with my 135-pound dad, the Pocket Hercules from Savannah."

Howard Cohen was inducted into the Greater Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984 and the U.S. Masters Weightlifting Hall of Fame in 2010. He was honored by the Greater Savannah Sports Council in 2011 at the Georgia Power Sports Awards luncheon where he received the event's highest honor as the recipient of the John F. Hodges O.A.S.I.S Award (for Outstanding Achievement in Sports in Savannah).

He spoke about how much his family meant to him that day and called his wife, Carol, his best friend. The couple celebrated their 67th anniversary in December.

"I've won awards in Canada, Poland and Australia," Cohen said that day at the luncheon. "But this is my community of Savannah with all my family and friends here. This is special."

Cohen was a math teacher in the Savannah Chatham Public School System for 30 years, the last five at Savannah High when the school was at the Washington Avenue location where Savannah Arts is today.

"My dad was a disciplinarian and a monster in the classroom," Michael Cohen said. "And that's the same way he was in the gym. If you weren't looking good, or doing your work — he was going to let you know. He would be the first to put you down, but he was always the first to pick you up. And if he told you something, it was gospel. He was never the type to blow smoke."

Michael Anderson said there has been an outpouring of support from around the globe as the world weight lifting community learned of his father's passing.

"My dad helped USA Masters Weightlifting grow here in the United States and internationally," Michael Cohen said Saturday from the USA Masters National Meet in Baton Rouge, where he won a gold medal along with his wife, decorated lifter Sheryl Cohen, also a Savannah native. "He was very strong in developing individuals as a coach and as a teacher. He thrived in trying to help people reach the next level — he helped people strive to reach their goals whether they were in athletics or life. He was a teacher and educator 24/7, he never clocked out to go home. He lived to do that and touched so many lives."

Michael Cohen said the last time he spoke with his father was last weekend, and his dad encouraged Michael, who took over as the CEO of USA Masters Weightlifting when his father stepped down in 2016, to focus on the Masters National Meet.

"He said to put on a great show for his people," Michael Cohen said. "And that shows even in his last days he was thinking about this organization that meant so much to him. He was always very regimented and focused and he was loved by everyone."

Cohen is survived by his wife, Carol Cohen; children, Michael Cohen (Sheryl), Mitzi Cohen; his grandchildren — Dallas Sellars (Brad), Nova Oglesby (Eric), Michael H. Cohen (Isabel), William Cohen, Carolyn Cohen, Samuel Cohen and his great grandchildren — Navah Sellars, Zarah Sellars, Jordan Sellars, Cohen Oglesby.

Services will be Monday April 15th, 2024 at 11 a.m. at Bonaventure Cemetery. A Celebration of Life will be scheduled at a later date.

When Howard Cohen was honored by the Sports Council in 2011, he remember an article in the Savannah Morning News that had been written by his friend, the late sports editor Marcus Holland.

"The headline was 'A Golden Life' and that's what I've had," Cohen said.

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah's legendary weight lifter and coach Howard Cohen passes away