Melvin S. Cohen of Chevy Chase, Md., a successful businessman and active philanthropist in the Washington area who kept many of his charitable activities quiet, died Jan. 19 at 87.
Cohen was the founder of District Photo, the worlds largest photo mail-order business, and parlayed that into the online photo processing site Snapfish. He also was a friend and sometimes business partner of the legendary DC-area entrepreneur Abe Pollin, who owned the Washington Wizards of the NBA.
Cohen and Pollin in 1988 said they would pay for the college educations of the fifth grade at a school in a poor neighborhood in suburban Washington. Of the 59 students in the class, 49 graduated high school, 39 went to trade school or college and, by 2007, 17 had received at least one college degree. JTA
