A celebration of the life of Russ Cohn, a longtime CYC member whose family won the “Boating Family of the Year” award in 1981, will be held Sunday,  June 12, at noon at the CYC Shilshole Clubhouse.

Cohn, 88, died in late April as a result of complications following a fall a few months ago at his home. His ashes were scattered by family members from the boat of a friend and fellow CYC member, Fred Pot, at Jefferson Head on Puget Sound.

“Russ was an active member of CYC for many years and a Monday Lunch regular,” Pot said. “We will sorely miss him. We will miss his friendship, his humor and his intellect.”

Cohn was born in Chicago and grew up on Lake Michigan. He built his first boat when he was just 9 years old.

“His mother sewed a canvas sail for it, and they took it to Miller Beach on Lake Michigan and put the sail up,” said Cohn’s daughter, Victoria Peters. “He told me that because the sail was canvas and heavy, the boat sank. My sister always said it was because of the way he built the boat, but I believe my father.”

Cohn served in the Navy during World War II; he was stationed in Bremerton.  After the war, he earned a degree in naval architecture and marine engineering from the University of Michigan. He returned to the Bremerton Navy Yard to work on ship designs in 1954.

He took a leave of absence to earn a master’s degree in those subjects at the University of California at Berkeley.  He worked for the Bremerton shipyard until 1960, when he joined The Boeing Company, spending much of his time there on the Jetfoil program.

Cohn owned and raced a number of sailboats over the years, the first being the Dedis. Others included the Winderly and Indian Summer. He joined CYC in 1968, was active in the club for many years and regularly volunteered to sit on protest committees.

He and his wife, Barbara, sailed to Alaska a couple of times and sailed around Vancouver Island several times, accomplishments that earned them the Boating Family honor.

In addition to his widow, Cohn leaves four children, Victoria Peters, Rosalinde Medisky, Johanna Boudon and Jonathan Cohn, 10 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.