Next week, Barry and Susan Koh will depart Easton, leaving a legacy of what it means to be a good neighbor and community leader. This local power couple was instrumental in creating Temple B’Nai Israel, the spiritual center for the Jewish population in Talbot County. In addition to nurturing the spirit, they also nurtured our cultural needs with Chesapeake Music, which has presented world-class chamber music events and performances for many years, today with a residency at the Ebenezer Theater.
The next time you attend B’Nai Israel services or social events, like the lecture series the Kohs helped create, or find yourself soaking in the sounds at a chamber music performance at the Ebenezer Theater in downtown – you can thank Barry and Susan.
Barry and Susan are good at many things, but most importantly, they know how to get things done. They are highly detail-oriented and have vision, which is a rare combination. They helped raise millions of dollars to build the Temple, which has been a vital place of worship; especially today, helping Jews and people of other faiths, make sense of the Israeli hostage crisis and war in Gaza.
About 100 people recently attended an event at the Temple to show their gratitude and appreciation to the Kohs. Recently retired Rabbi Peter Hyman, who the Kohs recruited to become the first full-time Rabbi for the Temple many years ago, recited the Proverb, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” He added, “The Kohs showed vision and dedication, and we are all better off because of their efforts.”
Speaker after speaker described their dedication, how effectively Susan recruited new members to the Temple, and how Barry used common sense and an engineer’s scientific approach to problem-solving to move projects forward. Others talked about how the couple recruited and charmed talented people to become involved with the Temple and Chesapeake Music. The general theme was that saying no to Barry and Susan was hard. They are also forward-thinking, and with their departure in mind, helped create a succession plan ensuring that what they built over two decades would endure.
After an hour or so of people saying wonderful things about them, Barry and Susan got their chance to respond at the podium. In Barry’s familiar humorous and self-deprecating style, he opened his remarks saying, “Now for the Rebuttal,” generating laughter from the crowd. Barry and Susan went on to thank many people, talk about volunteerism, and how meaningful it was for them to be part of the Temple family over all these years. They also encouraged people to get involved. Barry and Susan are models of effective volunteer leadership and community involvement.
The Kohs are a unique couple. They met when they were nine years old while attending camp. They have been married for 64 years and are best friends. Barry has NYC roots as I do. He attended the Bronx High School of Science and graduated from Columbia University with an AB in Science and a BS in Mechanical Engineering. He later got his Master’s degree from the University of Maryland in Mechanical Engineering and a PHD in Thermal Engineering, minoring in Nuclear Engineering from Cornell University. Based on his resume, I listened carefully whenever Barry explained how things worked.
Barry served in the Navy on Admiral Rickover’s staff, described as the father of the US nuclear Navy. After several executive jobs in the nuclear industry, he formed Koh and Associates, a company that focused on radioactive waste management, euphemistically called environmental restoration.
Susan had a 36-year career as a teacher and administrator. She attended Barnard College in NYC. When I asked her why Barnard, she told me with a twinkle in her eye that she needed to keep an eye on Barry, who was attending nearby Columbia. Susan’s teaching and administrative career included stints in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and other places. Susan took time off to raise children and jumped into more volunteer work later in life.
When deciding where to move two decades ago, Susan said she preferred moving to New York while Barry wanted to be on the Eastern Shore to enjoy fishing and boating. When I asked her about the move she said, “Barry was right. Easton was the right choice”. Susan’s only requirement was not to live on an isolated street, preferring a home where she could open her front door and yell “Help!” if needed, and someone would hear her. Well, for 16 years my wife and I have lived across the street from Susan and Barry and are one of the couples on our street who would happily respond.
There was never a call for help. Instead, I would call her for advice on various subjects. Our best conversations with Barry and Susan happened while walking our dog Ella. We would run into them on the street, driving back from one of their many meeting or Barry’s daily early morning swim at the Y. We talked about kids, politics, life, and neighborhood affairs. I will miss calling Barry to ask if his internet is down and to complain about the service. I will miss seeing Susan cleaning up her yard, which set a high standard for us, and watching Barry strut around in his cool Bronx High School Science bomber jacket. I will not miss my wife saying, “Why can’t you dress nicely like Barry.” I will also miss seeing Barry taking his pretty boat “Daybreak” out at sunrise for a long day of fishing with buddies; a few I imagine who could not say no to the invite.
Susan and Barry are off to Rye, New York, where they will be closer to their children and grandchildren. They both say they will miss the caliber of people with whom they have developed friendships during their 19-year tenure in Easton. They will find new people and contribute their unique skills to making their new home a better place. I will miss them, as will all the people they have touched.
Hugh Panero, a tech and media entrepreneur, was the founder and former CEO of XM Satellite Radio. He has worked with leading tech venture capital firms and was an adjunct media professor at George Washington University. He writes about Tech and Media and other stuff for the Spy.
Ella is all love, and returning it in kind to her and your other human or dog friends will help you live longer. She has few bad qualities. Ella does not beg for food or chew on stray socks. She does gently sticks her snout in everyone’s crotch for a head scratch, catching a few humans off guard. Her periodic barking is designed to warn us about murderous squirrels, foxes, and the occasional deer that wander onto our property. She is very trusting and enthusiastically bolts into the vet or groomer, looking for affection, blissfully ignorant of prior bad experiences. If only humans could harness this skill. 
In 2022, Talbot County first heard about a new fourteen-home luxury housing development in the Village of Bellevue, one of twenty-two unincorporated Villages in Talbot County. Bellevue stands out from other villages because it is a predominantly black community with a rich African-American maritime history. It is a quiet, off-the-beaten-path, peaceful community where people are neighborly. 
