David grew up in Connecticut, born to Marion and Simon Cohen in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on March 9, 1938. He graduated from Deerfield Academy (’56), Yale (’60), and Cornell Medical School in New York City, obtaining his MD in 1964.
He had what he described as the great luck to have met his wife of the last 57 years, Vernice, at a party he had not even wanted to attend. When they met, David was a Resident in Ophthalmology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, after having completed a residency and being Chief Resident at the University of Utah in Neurology. David was also on the faculty at Harvard when they met.
Together, David and Vernice moved to Bethesda, Maryland, where David served as Lieutenant Commander on the faculty at the National Naval Medical Center. After an honorable discharge from the Navy in 1972, David and Vernice moved to Ohio, where David took a position at the Cleveland Clinic. During their time in the Cleveland area, David and Vernice had two sons, David and Christopher (“Coby”).
In 1975, they settled in Spokane, Washington. David was the founder of Eye Consultants, an ophthalmology practice at Holy Family Hospital, and a premier eye surgeon and one of the first LASIK providers in Spokane. The Spokane area would remain their home for the rest of David’s life, and he truly loved everything the area offered, from sailing on Lakes Coeur d’Alene and Pend Oreille to skiing at Schweitzer, to enjoying time with friends and family. David was an avid skier and sailor, enjoying racing in both sports well into his 80s, before his body would no longer allow him to pursue those activities.
Over the years, David served as President of Temple Beth Shalom, Coeur d’ Alene Sailing Club, Boy Scouts Troop 393, Schweitzer PrimeTimers, and the Spokane branch of the International Wine & Food Society.
In the months before he passed, he expressed his sincere gratitude for the love of family and friends and his love for all of them and for the beautiful area that he called home. He was appreciative every day of the beautiful view of lake and mountains from his home.
David is survived by his wife Vernice, his two sons, David (Alyssa) of Seattle, and Coby (Miriam) and granddaughters, Ayla and Ya’el, of Walla Walla, and David’s brother, Jim, of Minneapolis.