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on the cover

in
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ROBIN SCHWARTZ

Retiring Retirement!

ROBIN SCHWARTZ JN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

65+ and still
going strong,
some local
professionals
elect to keep on
working .

T

hey are some of Metro Detroit’s most seasoned profession-
als — doctors, lawyers, judges, academics, business owners
and more — still making an impact, imparting wisdom and
achieving career successes and accolades well after the traditional
retirement age of 65.
Bloomberg News recently reported that “almost 20 percent of
Americans 65 and older are now working, according to the lat-
est data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s the most
older people with a job since the early 1960s.”
What is driving them? And why do some say they will never
retire? We talked to several prominent Jewish professionals —
who are still hard at work every day — to find out.

U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn, 92, says retirement
“is just not in my vocabulary.”

ON THE BENCH

When he graduated from University of Michigan Law School
back in 1949, U.S. District Court Judge Avern Cohn says he never
expected he’d still be on the bench and on the job at age 92. But,
he is. He’ll be 93 in July.
“I never thought about it,” Cohn says.
He has never thought about retirement, either.

“It’s just not in my vocabulary,” he says. “As long as I can handle
the job and I can do the work, I’m going to continue working.”
President Jimmy Carter first appointed Cohn to the bench in
1979. He has earned a decades-long reputation as a brilliant,
insightful and thorough judge who is tough but fair. Cohn still
handles a full caseload and he’s still quick-witted and sharp. He
pours through piles of paperwork stacked on his desk and around
his office, which is filled with mementos — photographs, awards,
artwork, gifts — reminders of a rich and full career that continues
to this day.
“If I truly retired — I’ve got a bad set of legs, so I don’t play golf
and I don’t travel — I’d have nothing do to,” Cohn says. “As long my
health holds out and I can function effectively, I’m going to con-
tinue to work.”

LOVE OF LIFE

“I wake up every morning; I look in the mirror; I feel like I’m 43,”
says Florine Mark, president and CEO of Weight Watchers Group
in Farmington Hills. “I get dressed and I put on heels every day. My
personality would not allow me to retire.”
Mark has been named among the leading female entrepre-
neurs in the world, and she is still leading the way. She is a savvy
businesswoman, philanthropist, adviser and board member on
approximately 40 committees and civic organizations, including
the Jewish Community Center (she is immediate past president
and co-chairs its executive committee) and the Governor’s Council
on Physical Fitness.
Every week, she hosts a radio show that profiles remarkable

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March 23 • 2017

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