Mpls - Cohen, Burton "Burt"

died on May 10, 2025. He was 94 1/2 and overweight. He was given plenty of advance notice of his imminent death, but his lifelong habit of procrastination meant he didn't write this obituary until pretty much the last minute, thereby sacrificing fact checking, proofreading and style. Readers please note.

He died not of flabbiness, as had been widely predicted, but of advanced aortic stenosis, after choosing to reject the surgical procedure that would have corrected the problem. "It would have been like putting a new set of tires on an old jalopy," he said. "Almost every other body part or function was deteriorating at an accelerating rate and wouldn't have supported new tires for very long. The two exceptions were my appendix and my hair follicles, which were still performing well, and I feel bad they had to go with the rest."

Burt was born in and spent most of his life in Minneapolis, with two gaps: two years in humid, roach-infested Augusta, Georgia, where he was stationed with the U.S. Army; and five years in wonderful, wonderful New York, where he worked at something.

His greatest achievement and absolute highlight of his life was finding and marrying Rusty, his love and partner and strength for 70 years, until temporarily interrupted by her death in 2023, but where continuity is now fully restored.

Burt entered the family business, Modern Medicine medical publications, eventually ran the business for several years, but left when it was sold and the new owners moved it to New York. He then bought a tiny local magazine which morphed into Mpls. St. Paul magazine and, with the incredible talent of Brian Anderson, Gary Johnson and many other stars, turned it into one of the most successful city magazines in America. It still is.

Burt lived and breathed volunteerism and giving back, serving in leadership and supportive roles in countless cultural, educational, professional and social organizations and causes; and together with Rusty, doing what they could to make this a better community and world.

Burt is survived by and enormously proud of his and Rusty's three children, Michael, Jeffery and Susan, each of whom is doing well and doing good; two wonderful grandsons, and two brilliant great-grandchildren; along with loving and close extended family; and by Kay Carda, who managed his life; and, despite his off-putting personality, by so many, so many, so many precious friends.

"I may very well be one of the luckiest, happiest and most blessed people in the world," Burt recently told a reporter, who passed it along.

A Memorial Service will be held at TEMPLE ISRAEL, 2323 Fremont Ave. S., Minneapolis, on THURSDAY, May 15, 2025 at 11:00 am and will be available on Zoom at www.hodroffs.com/BurtonCohen SHIVA service will be held at Temple Israel, Thursday at 7:00 pm, open to all.

If one should be so inclined, memorial contributions would be so appreciated to Temple Israel, where Burt set a record for non-attendance at Sabbath services; but where, nevertheless, his heart resides.

Hodroff-Epstein 612-871-1234 www.hodroffepstein.com