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www.HartfordBusiness.com November 26, 2012 • Hartford Business Journal 63 Celebrating 20 Years of Business News O ver the course of two decades, death has claimed some of Hartford's best and brightest. Here are 20 community figures whose legacy has influenced the way we see Greater Hart- ford today. They are listed alphabetically. John Alsop 1915 to 2000 John Alsop's vocation was insurance but his avocation was Repub- lican politics on both the state and national level. Alsop retired in 1980 after 27 years as chief executive of Covenant Insurance Mutual Insurance Co. in Hartford -- the firm created by his father in the 1920s. Along with former Aetna chairman John Filer and DeRoy ``Pete'' Thomas of ITT Hartford, Alsop was one of the key organizers of the Insurance Association of Connecticut, which eventually became a strong lobbying force at the state Capitol on insurance issues. Alsop had a long political pedigree as the grandson of a Democrat lieutenant governor and the grandnephew of Republican President Theodore Roosevelt. Also unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1962 against John Dempsey. A two-term state legislator, Alsop helped push through three desegregation bills submitted by the Connecticut NAACP at the end of the 1949 legislative session. Those measures outlawed racial dis- crimination in the National Guard, public accommodations and pub- lic- housing projects. IrvIng Bercowetz 1918 to 2002 Irving Bercowetz was a driving influence behind the ongoing suc- cess of the Connecticut Packing Co., the industrial development of Bloomfield's south end, and the creation of Copaco, a 40,000 sq. ft. grocery store that was the largest of its kind when it opened in 1966. It would be the genesis for the Copaco Shopping Center, which is still open to this day. Bercowetz got his start in the family meat business, the Connecti- cut Packing Co. (the inspiration for Copaco) during World War II, after having successfully established his own hog processing busi- ness. After the Korean War, Irving helped develop a portion of the family farm into Bloomfield's first industrial zone, the Granby Street Industrial Park.. He was president of the company at his death. Bercowetz was a charter member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and was named Man of the Year by the Connecticut Food Store Associa- tion, according to his obituary. george BAhAmonde 1948 to 2006 George Bahamonde had been president and CEO of United Way of the Capital Area from 1994 to 2006 when he passed away suddenly while on vacation. A career United Way executive with experience throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, he helped lead the local United Way through 30 percent growth in his 12-year tenure. A native of Cuba who moved with his family to Bridgeport when he was 11, Bahamonde had more than two decades of experience with the United Way before he came to Hartford, according to his obitu- ary. He previously worked in leadership as the senior vice president with the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, the president and chief professional officer of United Way of Puerto Rico, and the executive director of the United Way in Portland, Maine. 20 Business Leaders Who Have Passed Away cArlyle "hAp" BArnes 1924 to 2012 "Hap" Barnes, which he claimed stood for "Haphazard," was the longtime president and CEO of Associated Spring Corporation in Bristol. A 10th generation descendent of the Barnes clan in Bristol, he was part of a family known for its industrial prowess. In 1948, he joined Associated Spring Corporation as a staff assis- tant in the Bristol division, rising to General Manager there in 1951, when he was also elected to the Board of Directors. He took over as President in 1953 and was elected Chairman and CEO in 1964 until his retirement in 1994. Barnes served on many boards of directors and in 1999 he received the John Filer Award for Creative Leadership in Philanthropy from the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy. He was a Director with Travelers Insurance Co., Burndy Corp., Kaman Corp., Connecticut Light & Power, and The United Bank and Trust Co.. He was President of The Manufacturing Association of CT, President of The Connecticut Expenditures Council, and Connecticut Chairman of The Newcomen Society. lAurence "lArry" cohen 1948 to 2012 Christopher Keating, Capital bureau chief of the Hartford Cou- rant, best summed up Larry Cohen, who died suddenly this year of a heart attack in Florida at the age of 64. Cohen, he wrote, was "a cigar- chomping raconteur with a biting wit." Cohen had a lengthy career in Connecticut journalism beginning with a job at the Courant in 1970. As his obituary recalled, "During 40 George Bahamonde, a native of Cuba, led the United Way of the Capital Area as its CEO and president for 12 years, a period that say the group experience 30 percent growth. A LOOK BACK MeMoriuM Laurence Cohen, right, was one of the most prolific writers — and wits — in the state before he died suddenly in August, 2012. He is shown here at the Hartford Business Journal's Lifetime Achievement award ceremony in 2011. He was moderator for the event which honored, among others, Mark Scheinberg, left, founder and president of Goodwin College. With them are Cliff Thermer and Se-Min Sohn from Goodwin. In