HANOVER — Susan Cohen first moved to Mitchell Lane in Hanover in 1975 with her three children, having never previously owned a car or a house.

“She just picked us up out of some sense that it would be better for us out of Manhattan and in Hanover,” said her daughter, Gena Cohen Moses, who was going into her junior year of high school when they moved. “I can’t even imagine what it would be like to start life over again.”

At the time of the move, her daughters were not happy. Now, they look back at it with admiration for their mother.

“She’s so courageous which I didn’t realize for a really long time,” her youngest child, Deborah, who was just starting high school at the time, said. “When challenges would come up, she would just figure out what had to be done.”

From Spanish language learning programs, to weight-lifting, to book clubs, to duplicate bridge, Cohen spent her 48 years in the Upper Valley doing a wide variety of activities and making connections along the way.

“She was a very unassuming person with a wide network of interests,” said West Lebanon resident Eleanor Coffey, Cohen’s long-time friend.

Cohen lived at the same house on Mitchell Lane until 2018. She then lived at Kendal, a senior living community in Hanover, for five years before her death of respiratory failure on Dec. 25, 2023 at the age of 90. 

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1933 as Susan Nemeroff, Cohen earned an undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1955, the same year she married Ralph Cohen. In 1965, Cohen earned a master’s degree in English from New York University and then additional education credits at Hunter College to become an English teacher.

She and Ralph had three kids together, before divorcing in 1970. By the time they separated, their kids were 8, 10 and 12 years old. 

“My mom was raising three kids in Manhattan working as a school teacher,” said Eric Cohen, Susan Cohen’s oldest child. “It could not have been easy. She was an incredibly strong and independent person.”

Along with wanting to escape the “turbulence” of New York City in the ’70s, Cohen moved to the Upper Valley to be closer to her sister, Gladys Agell, who lived in Waits River until her death in 2019, said Deborah.

For nearly half of her time in the Upper Valley, Cohen worked as an English teacher. She taught a few years at Stevens High School in Claremont and Frances Richmond Middle School in Hanover, and then spent 18 years at Hanover High School where she retired as the chair of the English department in 1998.

“She had high expectations but made sure the students were learning what they needed to learn and she helped them get there,” said Bill Hammond, who was Cohen’s student teacher in 1982. He went on to teach at Hanover High for 30 years and served as principal of Marion Cross Elementary in Norwich for seven years before retiring.

Though quiet in other settings, Cohen made herself heard at school, Hammond said.

“I remember her in hiring committees, how important it was for her to not just look for the flashy teacher but to look for the teacher she thought would have the deepest impact on students,” Hammond said. “When there was a disagreement in those meetings about whom to select, she was adamant and clear about why she was defending who she was defending and she would usually win, for good reason.”

Even though she had no technical background in theater, when the high school’s drama group the Footlighters needed an advisor, Cohen stepped up. During her approximately three years as advisor, Cohen advocated for picking shows with a variety of roles and championed students who didn’t normally get cast as the lead.

“It wasn't something she had to do at all but she knew how valuable it was for the students to have a good drama program,” Hammond said.

In 1999, Cohen helped start an Upper Valley Jewish Community book group. The group, which is still active today, picks a book related to Judaism each month to read and discuss at a member’s house.

Known for her antique furniture, beautiful dishes and delicious desserts, the group often met at Cohen’s house and eventually her apartment at Kendal before she left the group a few years before her death. “She loved beautiful things, she loved beautiful writing,” Roberta Berner, president of the Upper Valley Jewish Community, said.

In the group, Cohen listened more than she talked.

“She was quiet, but when she spoke, whatever she had to say carried a great deal of weight,” Berner said.

Even as she aged, Cohen stayed active.

“She’d do races in her 70s and she would be the oldest in her age group,” Deborah Cohen recalled.

Coffey, now 94, became friends with Cohen through their shared love of doing.

They both joined the Buena Gente Social Club, a Spanish conversation club in Hanover that’s still active. More than 30 years ago, the duo traveled together to Mexico to a Spanish language school for two weeks. 

As they got older, they biked and kayaked with an outdoor senior group. “She was quite competitive,” Coffey said, “I understand she was a killer bridge player.”

Coffey fondly remembers birthday dinners Cohen would host for her.

“She was intelligent, fun, interesting, and a good friend,” Coffey said.

In 2018, Cohen was awarded the Micah award, a social justice award presented to several New Hampshire community members annually and administered by what was then the United Valley Interfaith Project, now part of Granite State Organizing Project, a faith-based, grassroots, community organization.

Cohen was recognized for her extensive volunteering. The award announcement mentioned she was a regular organizer of Listen’s dinners; served nine years on the Board of Directors of the now-closed Outreach House, a nonprofit that provided assisted living in Hanover; volunteered at Maynard House, a nonprofit that hosts patients and families at low cost who need to travel to Hanover for medical care; and she could be found at the polls on Election Day signing in voters.

“She was one of those quiet backbone people that was there doing the work that wasn’t in the limelight but was all important,” Berner said.

Emma Roth-Wells can be reached at erothwells@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.