Barry Edward Cohen

Barry Edward Cohen, 62, of Pacific Palisades, passed away on Friday, January 7, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from complications related to esophageal cancer.

Barry was born in Binghamton, New York, the second of three children born to Elizabeth and Warren Cohen. Soon after, the family moved to Albany, where Barry graduated from Shaker High School.

He then graduated from the Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania, and ULCA Law School. He ended up loving Los Angeles so much that he remained in the area throughout the rest of his life. He established his own law firm in 1994 and practiced business litigation, as well as other areas of law.

Everywhere he went, he surrounded himself with a strong community. His clients often became his best friends, and the staff at the coffee shops and farmer’s markets he frequented knew him by name.

Barry was also an avid cyclist, yogi and paddle tennis player. He was passionate about eating healthy, organic food, and was a coconut oil and green juice fanatic. He was a huge sports fan, and loved the Yankees, the Giants and his adopted LA team, the Clippers. He also loved the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan and would sing off-key at the top of his lungs whenever no one was around.

He loved to travel, and passed away in Argentina while checking “Visit Patagonia” off of his bucket list. He doted on his children, Arielle and Max, and never missed an opportunity to tell people how proud he was of them. He was a very special character and will truly be missed.

Barry is survived by his wife Karen Martinez (Pacific Palisades), daughter Arielle (20), son Max (17), mother Elizabeth (Miller) Cohen (W. Roxbury, Massachusetts), sisters Connie Cohen (Maura McNeil), Boston, and Black Rock, Connecticut, and Jane (Cohen) Freedman, (Jeff)  Newton, and many nieces and nephews.  He was predeceased by his father, Warren E. Cohen.

A “Celebration of Life” service will be held at Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica on Friday, January 21 at 10:00 a.m. Please come dressed in your favorite color.

In lieu of flowers, he would have appreciated donations to Tree People made at treepeople.org/supportus, and/or the American Association for Cancer Research aacr.org/ways-to-give.