From The Olio
Deceased July 15, 2023
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In Memory
From Amherst Magazine–
Our dear classmate and extraordinary friend Charles “Tim” Cohler died on July 15 after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke while on vacation with his wife, Anne, and a grandchild. Tim and Anne would have celebrated their 40th anniversary on July 30. He is survived by Anne, his son Richard and daughter Deborah, Anne’s daughter Analisa and son Iain, and Tim and Anne’s beloved grandchild Raini. Their grandson Xavier died in 2015.
Born and raised in Chicago, Tim attended Harvard School for Boys and, after Amherst, Harvard Law School. He began his law practice in San Francisco, eventually co-founding his own firm, Lasky, Haas, Cohler & Munter. Tim had a brilliant career involving complex corporate litigation and antitrust issues and, in the process, became an expert in European antitrust law. Tom Woodhouse ’62 was with Tim at Harvard Law and in their law practice, also enjoying a close connection throughout his retirement.
Tim, an avid reader and writer, taught himself bridge; he and Anne became expert players, participating in many competitions. He traveled extensively around the world, even becoming an expert chef. Always dedicated to scientific inquiry and the advancement of knowledge, Tim donated his body to UC San Francisco for medical research. He lived a life he often described: according to his principles, based on questioning, examining and logical argument. An extraordinary number of people considered Tim a loyal friend, always available to them, knowing that he saw them for who they are, open to exploring and learning together.
He will be sorely missed by his Amherst classmates, especially all of his former Beta fraternity brothers (and sisters) with whom he remained in close contact. His memory will live on through his beloved family and the many friends and colleagues he had in his personal and professional life. —Tim’s Amherst Fraternity Family
Charles B. (Tim) Cohler ’62 died in July of 2023, having suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while at a family camp in the Sierras with his wife Anne and grandchild Raini.
Tim loved Amherst, which he thought gave him an education he could not have had elsewhere. A fundamental component of the Amherst experience, he believed, was English 1-2, as it was then taught. That experience was seminal in his formation as a lawyer (Harvard Law School ’65), as a scholar and as a person.
Tim had a brilliant career as a lawyer, and became a go-to person for clients involved in complex corporate litigation, often involving antitrust issues. He became an expert in European antitrust law. He was one of several attorneys who left San Francisco’s Brobeck law firm and formed their own, Lasky, Haas, Cohler and Munter, under the leadership of the indomitable Moses Lasky. Tim was a pivotal figure in the litigation that led to the sale of the Getty Oil Company to Texaco.
Everyone expected that Tim, the consummate lawyer, would never choose to retire from the practice of law. Yet he did, with the enthusiasm with which he addressed all turnings in his life. He turned to research and scholarship on various subjects, both personal and arcane, and took up golf, at which he was a happy duffer, finding it difficult to understand why it was so hard to hit a ball that was stationary. He taught himself bridge, and he and Anne became expert players, participating in competitions both in person and virtual. He loved travel, which included a canoe trip in the Yukon, and trips to Tibet, Antarctica,Galapagos, India, China, Egypt, Africa and Myanmar. He became a member of the Pacific Union Club in San Francisco, where he loved to have lunch and play bridge with friends.
Tim is survived by his wife of 40 years Anne, his son Richard (Noa, children Raphael, Adam and Ethan), daughter Deborah
(Barbara Voss) and Anne’s children Analisa (Geoff), Iain (Dustyne) and grandchildren Raini and Xavier (deceased 2015).
Tim has been my close friend for some 65 years, in the course of which we were classmates at Amherst, classmates at Harvard, law partners in San Francisco, fellow travelers, and congenial golf duffers. I grieve for his loss, and ours.
---Tom Woodhouse ’62
