By Jeff Lipton
Cohen uttered the emotional and final farewell to his 19-year-old son as wails of sorrow rose from other mourners at Adam's funeral last Sunday morning at Boulevard-Riverside Chapel in Hewlett. During the service, family, friends, high school classmates and fellow summer campers paid their last respects to the teen, who they said had everything going for him and touched so many lives. They shared their fondest memories of him.
Cohen, of Woodmere, was one of four counselors from Camp Baco in Minerva, N.Y., who drowned in the turbulent waters of the Boquet River in the Adirondacks, near Elizabethtown, on Aug. 12. Cohen, Jonah Richman, 18, of Woodsburgh, and Jordan Satin, 19, of Woodmere, all 2002 graduates of Hewlett High School, lost their lives in an attempt to save a fourth counselor, David Altschuler, 18, of Philadelphia, who slipped and fell into the rain-swollen river at Split Rock Falls.
All four counselors, who were enjoying a day off and were on their way to a popular swimming hole at the end of the river, drowned.
The chapel could not hold all the mourners who came to pay their respects, and many huddled outside the building in the rain near speakers to hear the eulogy for Cohen, who was described as an accomplished athlete and student at Hewlett High School and at the University of Wisconsin, where he had been studying for the past year. He was also called a hero for rushing to the aid of a friend in a final, ultimate act of friendship. The three local victims, who will forever be known as the Baco Boys for their summers together at the camp, where their strong bond was forged, were inseparable in life and ultimately in death, mourners said.
Adam, I love you, his father said at the service. It's time to go. I will never, ever forget you. Goodbye.
Cohen's girlfriend, Jayme Sigman, said she mustered enough strength to speak at the service because she knew that Adam would have wanted her to remain strong for him. She said she met him more than three years ago, and they had made grand plans. Adam, you taught me so much about life, how to handle any situation that came my way, she said.
He was my life, Sigman went on. We had something special. He always made me feel like a princess, like I was the most important person in the world.
I don't know why Adam was taken from us. There were so many plans for him and me. We were supposed to grow old together, she sobbed.
Sigman said they had planned to get married and have two boys and a girl. He was my soul mate; he was my life, she said, then turned to Adam's younger brother and said, Max, I will make sure you do your homework.
She added, finally, Adam, I miss your voice, your touches, your kisses. One day we'll meet and be together again.
Known as A.C. to his closest friends, Cohen was remembered as a leader to his campers and friends and as a role model for younger kids to follow. Friends said he was wise beyond his years, one who was sought out for advice on almost any topic.
Rabbi Sholom Stern of Temple Beth El in Cedarhurst said the heroic measures taken by Cohen, Richman and Satin on Aug. 12 at Split Rock Falls were not reckless and thoughtless acts, but acts of compassion for a fellow human being and friend.
Cohen, Stern said, always showed concern and compassion, which is why he volunteered to build houses for the poor in Brazil in the Habitat for Humanity Program.
Cohen's neighbor, Scott Strauss, said even though he had known Cohen only for about three years, Cohen had made a great impression on him. He said he had watched Cohen work with a young camper who was afraid of the water. After a few weeks, the boy had new-found confidence, and he was floating on his back, Strauss said.
Michael Finneran said he had known Cohen and Richman since they were 9. They are two of the finest young men I know, he said. They are two good and caring young men.
Finneran said he felt somewhat to blame for their tragic deaths, since he helped teach them how to swim, which gave them confidence in the water. He also encouraged them to be lifeguards, which they became at Camp Baco.
I helped them be strong and confident, and I told them how great it was to be a lifeguard, Finneran said. I told them what kind of adrenaline rush it was to get a rescue.
Finneran said Cohen was thunder and lightning in the pool. He had an incredible fire and a will to win. That drive made him all-county and the holder of school records at Hewlett High School. Cohen was also a running back on the undefeated 2000 junior varsity football squad.
Friends said he would always be remembered as a champion in life.
Following the funeral services, Cohen was buried at New Montefiore Cemetery in Farmingdale.
