Israel "Izzy" Cohen, 90, native son, boxer and restaurateur

Word has been received that Israel “Izzy” Cohen, once a popular New Canaan restaurateur, died Aug. 22, at his home in Sunrise, Fla. He was 90. A Ridgefield native, Mr. Cohen was a former professional boxer who later sponsored many New Canaan baseball, basketball and football teams.
He was born on June 12, 1910, son of the late Rubin and Bessie Cohen, and as a boy moved to New Canaan where he spent most of his life. He and his wife, the former Ida Rodansky, moved to Florida about 20 years ago.
In his first venture in business, Mr. Cohen ran a candy and cigarettes store in New Canaan There was also a gym in the building and that was where he launched his boxing career. “Izzy” Cohen then entered the bar and restaurant business in the 1930s as an assistant to Joe Doyle, a blind man. Their unlikely association was touted on their business card, which bore the image of an Irish leprechaun encircled by shamrocks, printed in green, and a Hebrew inscription directly below it.
When Mr. Doyle died, his heirs gave the business to Mr. Cohen in appreciation for his loyalty and honesty over the years.
“Izzy’s Place” soon became a town forum, attracting people from all walks of life who gathered there regularly to discuss community events. Among the regulars were Madison Avenue executives who lived in New Canaan and created a series of advertisements that drew widespread readership and gained regional attention for their humor. In the 1940s, another patron, noted artist and decorator E. Kenyon Davies, offered to design the interior of Izzy’s Place, which had expanded into a full-fledged restaurant when space formerly occupied by a Chinese laundry was annexed.
Sports competition then was interrupted by World War II, but Mr. Cohen’s support of New Canaan’s young men continued unabated. He compiled a “home-town” newsletter circulated monthly to all local men in the Armed Forces all over the world.
He also launched “Operation Smokescreen,” sending candy and cigarettes to local servicemen regularly throughout the war years. When they all came home again, he hosted what is still regarded as “the biggest party in New Canaan history.” Hundreds of men (reports said every male in town) attended the clambake, “Izzy Cohen’s Fresh Air Frolic,” on a farm in Vista, N.Y. And then his team took to the fields again, now adding football, and no victory ever was complete until he led the singing of at least one chorus of “New Canaan Will Shine Tonight.”
Mr. Cohen’s record as a sports promoter and youth booster was recognized in tributes paid to him over the years by area organizations. Tributes recalled Mr. Cohen’s own active career in sports. Weighing 118 pounds, he became a boxer in 1925 and won all 16 of the fights he had in two years on the amateur circuit in New England, and he won the Fairfield County championship. He turned pro in 1927, and he took on all comers for three years. His won-lost record in that time remains a bit hazy and Mr. Cohen always dismissed inquiries with the explanation that “I quit before my brains got completely scrambled.”
He remained a competitor, however, turning to golf, a sport he learned as a caddy at the Country Club of New Canaan when he was still a boy. It was said also that “Izzy knew more horses than people and he knew thousands of those.” He was an ardent fan at Yankee Stadium as well as the tracks.
Surviving, besides Mrs. Cohen in Sunrise, are twin daughters, Estelle Hofmann of Fairfield and Ruth Wenzel of Bridgeport; a sister, Jeanette Cohen of New York City; two granddaughters, Valerie Hofmann Gray of Atlanta, Ga., and Laura Gorlick of Milford, and three great-grandchildren. Three brothers died before him: George and Milton “Mickey” Cohen, who were both in the printing field, and Abraham, known throughout the area for his chauffeuring service.