Cohen family (Denver, Colo.)

Biography

The Cohen family was a family of Jewish pharmacists in Denver. The widowed mother, Mrs. Cohen, founded Cooper Drug. She had four children, Abe, Walter, and Murray Cohen, and Zelda Cohen Guttman. The children were born and grew up in Denver, attending Manual High School. The brothers worked as newsboys in their teens to help support the family. All three brothers went to pharmacy school, and the sister was trained as a pharmacy tech. Cooper Drug was a Jewish-owned drugstore in Denver, starting in the 1920s, located in downtown Denver on 17th and Curtis. The store was frequented by locals, and featured a huge soda fountain along with the bustling pharmacy. All four of the children worked at the store at some point. Zelda and her young daughter Marlene Guttman Siegel lived upstairs in an apartment over the store. The brothers opened their own pharmacies later, with Murray changing his last name to Cronell and opening Cornell Drugs in East Denver in the 1950s, and Abe and Walter opening the Payless Drug chain in New Mexico in the 1930s. Payless Drug later merged with Walgreens, and Walter became a Walgreens board member. When he died, he left an estate valued at over 22 million dollars.

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