Walter Cohen, Jr. was born on June 5, 1951 to the late Walter, Sr. and Beatrice G. Cohen, of John's Island, South Carolina. One brother, Anthony Bernard Cohen, Sr., preceded him in death.
Walter graduated from Haut Gap High School in 1969. After high school, he attended Trident Technical College where he received a certificate in Pipe Fitting. He later joined the US. Navy where he served for four years as an ACR Machinist. In addition, Walter served 30 years in the US Air Force Reserve and retired as a Master Sergeant in 2005. He was employed at the Charleston Naval Shipyard for 25 ½ years and later finished his employment with Metal Trades Shipyard in Hollywood, SC, where he worked until he retired.
While stationed in Norfolk, Virginia in 1974, Walter met and married the love of his life, Debbie Lee Jones. They later moved to Walterboro, South Carolina, where they spent the rest of their glorious days together. They were blessed with five children. Walter was a devoted family man who never missed an opportunity with his wife and children to be present at all the important events of their lives. He loved to work, fish and watch his favorite football team, the Philadelphia Eagles. He was also a keyboard player in a local stage band called “ The Dynamites”. Walter was also quiet and reserved, but his love for his family was loudly spoken through his actions. Family gatherings were important. He never missed a Christmas or other holiday events where good food and good conversation with family were remembered until the next gathering.
Walter will be sorely missed by his family and many others. He leaves to cherish fond memories his wife of 47 years, Debbie Lee Jones Cohen; his five children, Athena Michelle Jones, Bernadette L. Ford Lattimore (Alex), Lucretia Monique Cohen, Jason D’Angelo Cohen, and Walter Dwaine Cohen (Jacqueline); eleven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; his siblings, Elaine C. Felder, Elliott Cohen (Debra), Patricia Cohen, and Dwight Cohen (Thelma); his five in-laws: Charles Trammell, Karen Bruce, Terrence Trammell (April), Trina Trammell and Keiva Trammell; a special granddaughter, Abrielle Nettles; a special nephew, Ezell Trammell, III; nieces, nephews and a host of cousins, family members and friends.
If Walter could say a few last words to his family, it would probably be: “Miss Me, but Let Me Go; my purpose on earth has been completed, my last breath left me and my spirit fled away, to a land where all is brightness, to a land where all is day. Your sorrowed hearts would have kept me in a world to longer roam, but my precious Lord had called me to a far more glorious home. Death at least had claimed me captive, breathed on me his icy breath, but the Lord has freed me, for the Lord has conquered death, I’m talking now with Jesus in a land of pure delight, where no tears are ever flowing and Jesus is the light. In a while we’ll all be over in that land where angels sing; in the land where fears are ended, in the land where Christ is King. I love you, my family. Miss Me, but let Me Go!”
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