Eileen S. {Eaglstein} Cohen passed away peacefully on September 12, 2026, at the age of 82. She lived a life filled with creativity, curiosity, adventure, and an unwavering commitment to her family, friends, and community. Born on January 4, 1944, in Kansas City, Missouri, to Mildred and Max Eaglstein, she approached life with imagination, intelligence, and a remarkable ability to think outside the box. Whether building a business, organizing a fundraiser, or bringing people together, Eileen left everything she touched more beautifully than she found it.
A graduate of Southwest High School (1962), Eileen earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Ohio State University in 1966, where she served as president of her sorority. She began her career teaching art in the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools. She was dedicated to inspiring young people to the arts and did so through the Nelson-Atkins Children’s Program, the KCMO Discovery Program for Children, and as producer and commentator of ArtNow, a local cable television series celebrating the visual arts.
In 1968, she married Byron Cohen who she met through a blind date, beginning a partnership built on a shared love of art, travel, and community. Together they became loving parents, passionate collectors, and champions of contemporary art, helping enrich Kansas City’s cultural landscape.
Eileen’s creativity found expression in every chapter of her life. As co-owner of Panache Chocolatier for twenty-four years, she and her lifelong friend and business partner, Sharon Hoffman, combined artistry with entrepreneurship, creating chocolates that delighted generations of Kansas Citians.
She also devoted decades to civic and philanthropic leadership. Eileen was a founding member of the Contemporary Art Society at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and served as a Young Friends of Art board member and museum docent. She held leadership roles with the Ballet Ball Executive Committee, Historic Kansas City Foundation, Junior League of Kansas City, Rose Brooks Center, Planned Parenthood, Menorah Medical Center Auxiliary, Possum Trot, Bacchus Ball, and the Johnson County Community College Gallery of Art (now the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art), where she chaired its first benefit. She also conceived and led the creation of the Menorah Medical Center Health Resource Library, reflecting her lifelong commitment to education and community service.
What mattered most to Eileen was people. She was smart, endlessly creative, exceptionally organized, and fiercely loyal. Her friendships often spanned decades, many beginning in childhood, and she nurtured them with care and generosity. She loved traveling, playing golf, reading, collecting art, and gathering family and friends around a table filled with food, conversation, and laughter.
Above all, Eileen was devoted to her family. She is survived by her son, Mark Cohen, and his wife, Gaye; her daughter, Toma Wolff, and her husband, Andy; her loving companion of eleven years, Stephen Feinstein; her five cherished grandchildren, Jake, Elliot, and DeeDee Cohen, and Simon and Ava Wolff; her brother, Bill Eaglstein, and his wife, Janet; her stepbrother, Robert Levinson, and his wife, Nancy and her sister-in-law, Sue Eaglstein. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Byron Cohen; her parents, Mildred and Max Eaglstein; her brother, Fred Eaglstein and her mother’s second husband Leonard Levinson.
Eileen’s legacy lives on through the family she cherished, the friendships she nurtured, the organizations she strengthened, and the countless lives she enriched with her creativity, generosity, humor, and boundless enthusiasm for life.
A funeral service will be held Wednesday, September 16th at 11:00 am at Louis Memorial Chapel 6830 Troost Avenue Kansas City, Missouri 64131.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to Planned Parenthood Great Plains or Charlotte Street’s “Byron and Eileen Cohen Visual Artist Passport Award”, two causes that reflected Eileen’s lifelong commitment to education, compassion, and community.
Zoom link is below.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88542455943?pwd=U8H8Z4aCiJI8usBZ66r1S0TcJx7bYU.1#success
Obituary published by Louis Memorial Chapel.
