Holly Cohn, 84, of Elmhurst, passed away peacefully October 14 in Berkeley, CA while visiting her daughter’s family. She was born in Chicago, IL and was the only child of Joseph and Helen Renald. Married in 1964, she and husband Bert moved shortly thereafter from Chicago to Elmhurst. A life-long artist, she painted abstract subject matter in oils and acrylics. Her work was shown throughout the Chicago area, most notably at the Elmhurst Art Museum. Her paintings were greatly influenced by her teacher Eleanor Himmelfarb. Always exploring new directions in her work, she recently had begun working with collage and computer manipulation of images.
She was a long-time member and docent of the Elmhurst Art Museum, member of the Elmhurst Artists’ Guild and active participant in the Elmhurst College & Community organization. As “Picture Lady” in Elmhurst public schools, she enjoyed educating children about fine art. She worked for many years as a package designer at Container Corporation of America. She was strongly interested in equity investing and belonged to the Ticker Tapettes stock club for over 30 years, and she was devoted to classical music, jazz and opera.
She attended Francis Parker School in Chicago and Kemper Hall in Kenosha. She earned a B.A. from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and did graduate studies at the School of the Art Institute. Beloved wife of Bert, dear mother of Helise (Neil Gray) and Judy, grandmother of Sam and Jonah Gray. Memorial service to be held at Congregation Etz Chaim, Lombard; date to be announced. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Elmhurst Art Museum or to a charity of your choice.
