Judith Loeb Cohen, 80, died peacefully at her home in Toronto, surrounded by her family. The daughter of Amelia Brownstein and Norman Loeb, Judi was born in Ottawa in 1943. She is survived by her loving husband, Marshall (Mickey) Cohen, and her children, Richard and Elise Cohen, Jessica Cohen and Mark Ruan, Jill and Danny Morris, Jennifer and Ken Tanenbaum, Amanda Cohen and Grady Hendrix. She is the beloved grandmother of Caity, Matthew, Rachel, Peter, Amy, Zach, Sami, Maddie, Jack, Ethan, and Dylan. She is also survived by her brother, Donald Loeb, and his family.

Judi always championed stay-at-home moms, feeling that they were the most underestimated people on the planet. As a stay-at-home mom herself, Judi’s list of accomplishments include becoming the first woman to head a major arts organization in Canada, when she lead the board of the National Ballet. She was chair of the board of the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada for many years and founded the annual Teddy Bear Affair fundraiser on its behalf. She went on to found Invest in Kids in 1993 and served as its chair, launching The Battle of The Brains as their annual gala fundraising event. Battle of the Brains continues to this day as one of the largest fundraisers for numerous charitable organizations.

She chaired York University’s Schulich School of Business non-profit advisory committee, and chaired the University’s 50th anniversary celebrations. In addition, she was a director of the St. Michael’s Foundation and a recipient of the Peter Drucker Award for her work with Growing Together.

Besides her public work, she was the heart of her family, and will be deeply missed. Her family would also like to thank all of her doctors, nurses, and caregivers for treating her with such enormous skill and compassion at the end of her life.

The family will welcome visitors on Tuesday, January 23rd and Wednesday, January 24th from 1 – 3pm and from 5 – 7pm at 51 Hillholm Road, Toronto. Memorial donations may be made in her name to the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada.