BIOGRAPHY

Izaak Cohen was born on June 2, 1911 in Rotterdam, Holland. His parents were Charles Cohen and Elisabeth Stad Cohen, who also had a daughter named Henny, six years after Ike was born.
Ike or Les, as he was called during his school years, grew up during the First World War period and joined his father in the wholesale meat business after finishing his schooling. It was during this period that Ike developed his expertise in the meat business; a skill that he still uses in selecting the finest cuts of meat for his restaurants.

Ike enjoyed numerous hobbies including boxing and playing various instruments. In his twenties Ike enjoyed amateur boxing and played in a band as a drummer performing on cruise ships of the Holland American Line. He also enjoyed the piano, and was especially talented playing “by ear”, In later years the accordion was also an instrument that he played for his enjoyment as well as at parties. Ike also became involved in social clubs where he met his future wife, Bertie Blauw.

Ike and Bertie were married on May 19, 1938 and their first child, David Charles was born on December 9 1940. During World War II his name was changed to Tommy (in honor of the English soldiers known as Tommies) to protect him from the Germans. The political atmosphere in Holland deteriorated and at a certain point Ike and Bertie decided that they had to “go into hiding”. In order to do so, they needed to find a suitable family that would take them in and who were reliable enough in which they could entrust their lives. While waiting outside a bakery, Ike met Gien Daane-Verkouter. She made a very favorable impression on him and appeared very trust worthy.

After making arrangements with Gien, Ike and Bertie moved into her apartment and would stay for two and a half years until the War ended. A hiding place had to be created, where Ike and Bertie could hide when the Germans searched the apartment. A trusted friend of Gien’s completed this carpentry task. This space could not be readily seen, since it was inside a closet. Gien continually risked her life during the War to protect both Ike and Bertie. Ike and Bertie survived the War as did their son Tommy who was hidden by Ike’s cousin. Two other cousins were hidden with Tommy and also survived. Most of Ike’s family including his parents, his sister and her husband, along with some of Bertie’s family perished during World War II. After the War there was still fear that the Communist would invade Holland, since they were threatening Western Europe. This fear created a desire for Ike and Bertie to emigrate to the United States.

However, the Dutch government would not allow Ike (or anyone else) to take money out of Holland to start a new business. In the meantime their daughter, Yvonne was born on June 13, 1946. After the War Ike was able to start a commercial painting business, since he was fortunate enough to purchase paint which was not readily available at that time. Due to the continued fear of uncertainty, Ike and Bertie decided that emigrating to the Netherlands Antilles was feasible, safer and starting a new business was possible since there were no monetary restrictions.

In 1951 the entire family emigrated to Aruba after Ike’s first exploratory visit in 1950. This was when Ike established the Aruba Painting Company. Since Ike had promised Bertie that they would emigrate to the States when that became possible, in 1953 they went on a 17,000 mile trip throughout the United States to determine a suitable place to live. They finally settled on Jacksonville, Florida, since Jacksonville had a large river (the St Johns) flow through the center of town which reminded him of the Maas in Rotterdam. While in the States, Ike and Bertie decided to leave Tommy at boarding school to continue his secondary education, while the rest of the family returned to Aruba.

In 1954 the family emigrated to Jacksonville where Ike started a construction company. He built many homes in Jacksonville, completed numerous commercial jobs, and also constructed public housing and apartments with his partner Jan Koelemij in Tallahassee. In 1963, Ike was elected President of the Northeast Florida Home Builders Association.

Unfortunately, during this time period, Ike and Bertie were divorced. Ike was a family man and disliked living alone and soon met his future wife Grete Max, who had been widowed twice. (Both her husbands where killed in airplane crashes.) Grete had two daughters, Kitty and Ree. Ike married Grete in 1962. In 1964, Ike and Grete traveled to Aruba, and with the help of Ernie Kervel, acquired the Strand Hotel. This later became the Coral Strand Hotel and several years later was named after their famous restaurant The Talk of the Town. Surfside was built in 1970 across the street from Talk of the Town directly on the beach. This soon became a favorite spot for dining and private parties. In the seventies, under the umbrella of Talk of the Town, Ike ventured into the airline catering business. This grew and expanded into an independent business and by the early eighties the Aruba Catering Services opened at the Surfside location. By the early nineties, ACS had outgrown its space and location, and Calloway Corporation was founded with its own premises at the airport. Calloway is currently one of the top airline caterers in the world.

In the early seventies, Ike also purchased The Eight Continent (TEC) and the Manchebo Beach Hotel, two companies who were experiencing financial challenges at the time. TEC was a wholesale importer and Ike thought it would be advantageous to have a company from where he could purchase the products needed for his businesses (hotels, restaurants and airline catering) as well as for distribution to the other hotels and restaurants. Today TEC is still owned by Ike and has become an important wholesaler on the island with distribution rights for Polar Beer, Red Bull, Tulip, Bison Kit, and the new generic pharmaceutical lines from Holland. Manchebo is also still a very successful part of Ike's organization. It is a very popular hotel as is their famous French Steak House and the recently added Italian Gourmet Garden Terrace. The hotel recently opened the beautiful tropical Spa del Sol which is located directly on the beach.

Ike is one of the original founders of the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association, which celebrated its 40th anniversary at the end of 2005. Ike was also received the first and very coveted Golden Conch Award as the Caribbean Hotelier of the Year in 1978 by the Caribbean Hotel Association. In 1983 he was also knighted by Her Majesty Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.

Tragedy struck Ike in 1995 when his wife of 33 years Grete passed away after a difficult fight with cancer. In her remembrance, Ike wanted to give something back to the island that they both so loved and which had given them so many happy years. Ike realized that everyone in Aruba likes to “party” and in 1997 he began the Manchebo Charity Fair to celebrate his birthday and to raise money for local charitable purposes. This party has become the annual mid-year event on Aruba at the Manchebo, with music playing upon arrival in the lobby and continuing to musical groups at the beach. Ike pays for all expenses for the party including all food, drinks, and entertainment.

Participants are asked to contribute Afls 125 (US $70) with 100% of the donations and funds collected allocated to charity. Due to the continuing success of the event and generous contributions made by local businesses and supporters such as Rene Kan, The Stichting Ike Cohen Charity was founded in 2001. The Foundation has raised nearly AWG 1.000.000 ( US $562,000) being made available to various charitable projects on the island.