Cohen, Eloise Bittel, 1913-2003.

Political and civic volunteer Eloise Bittel Cohen was born in Comfort, Texas, the sixth child of Albert and Jenny (Pendley) Bittel. A graduate of Mary Hardin-Baylor College, she studied social work at the University of Chicago and the New York School of Social Work. She worked for the United States Public Health Service in Austin, Texas, and at the Social Security Board in Washington, D.C., where she met social scientist Wilbur Cohen. They were married in 1938 and had three sons. Wilbur Cohen served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, finally as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1968. Eloise Cohen was a tireless volunteer, working for the Democratic Party at all levels, with the League of Women Voters, Goodwill Club, and International Neighbors Club, to name a few. They moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1969 where Wilbur served as dean of the School of Education at the University of Michigan. Eloise Cohen died in Illinois in December 2003.