Merrill Cohen’s father loved tropical fish, but he wouldn’t let his son get a puppy. Fish and dogs eventually became Cohen’s life-long pursuits.
Cohen grew up and became a dog breeder. Yorkshire terriers were his favorite breed, and during the 1950s and ’60s, he and his wife, Helen, won numerous prizes at dog shows around the country. Cohen eventually traveled the world as a judge for purebred dog competitions.
When he wasn’t training terriers, Cohen was nurturing his interest in tropical fish. He preferred to decorate his tanks with natural materials rather than plastic ornaments and plants, and he developed one of the first all-glass tanks without a metal rim. In the mid-1940s, Cohen opened The Aquarium, a Pikesville, Md., store devoted to selling and designing natural fish tanks. Twenty years later, he sold the business to an employee and launched Aquarium Products, one of the nation’s largest tropical fish wholesalers.
Cohen died on Aug. 6 of lung cancer. He was 75.
August 22, 2003 by
Merrill Cohen
Categories: Business
I couldn’t find a place on this site to view tributes. I can’t believe that I would be the first to write.
I knew Mr. Merrill Cohen for many years and showed my Yorkies in both breed and obedience classes. I won major points under Merrill, and he judged my Yorkies in all the obedience classes.
One time Merrill was judging Utility and I had two of my Yorkies entered. One Yorkie had his UD already and the other one got a leg toward her title that day. When Merrill called the dogs with qualifying scores back into the ring, there were only four of us, out of a large class that managed to qualify. Merrill then said, “well this is proof, if you want to do well in Utility Class, GET A YORKIE!” He was a lover of the breed and a wonderful man. We enjoyed his humor and wit, he is missed.
Judy Shackel