Caplan, Birnbaum, Halmi, Rosenberg Family Tree

A ‘warm, funny, generous’ man
By Ann Lukits

Kingston Whig-Standard Staff Writer

One of Kingston’s oldest businesses, Rosen Heating and Cooling, officially merged yesterday with another old, established city business – Triheat Anglin.

The man responsible for brokering the deal missed the historic moment by two days.

Philip Koven, a well-known businessman, philanthropist and community volunteer, died at his home Saturday, three weeks and two days after learning he had inoperable pancreatic cancer. He was 68.

Adam Koven, who recently took over the family business with his brother Kenneth, said the merger with Triheat Anglin meant a lot to his father because it symbolized the firm’s “forward” direction and continuity.

Instead of celebrating the launch of a new business venture – the new company will be known as Rosen, Triheat and Anglin – the Koven family spent the day in mourning.

“I’m fortunate that we have staff who have worked for our family longer than I’ve been alive,” Adam Koven told the Whig-Standard.

“That’s a tribute to what my father was. People didn’t work for him short term. When they got to know him, they realized the type of man he was to work for.”

Merle Koven said her husband hadn’t felt well for several months, but no one suspected cancer. Diagnosed on July 9, he died “very, very fast,” she said, noting that it was typical of Phil that “he made it easy on us.”

“Two hours before he died, he was still telling us stories and jokes,” Merle Koven said. “He did everything serious he had to attend to in those three weeks.”

Born in Grand Falls, N.B., where his parents ran the local general store, Phil Koven was a 20-year-old medical student at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia when his life suddenly took an abrupt turn.

He had come to Kingston one weekend for a Queen’s University function and was staying at the home of Harry and Ethel Abramsky, where he met Merle Rosen, a 17-year-old student at Kingston Collegiate. The two began dating and were soon discussing marriage.

“It sounds like a fairy tale, but we just knew it,” Merle Koven said.

After high school, Merle enrolled in teachers college in Toronto while Phil, who had dropped out of medical school, moved to Kingston and opened an antique business on lower Princess Street. Called Trinkets and Treasures, it was housed in the building currently occupied by the Sleepless Goat.

After they married, Merle Koven taught school while her husband ran the antique shop and helped her father, the late Harry Rosen, build and run the Ambassador Motel on outer Princess Street and the Husky Truck Stop at Joyceville Road and Highway 401. Both businesses have since been sold.

During their 45 years of marriage, the Kovens raised three children – Adam, Kenneth and Rebecca – and simply “had the best life,” according to Merle, who is the older sister of Kingston’s mayor, Harvey Rosen.

“We worked very hard and we played very hard.”

For the past 14 years, the Kovens have rented an enormous house in Mexico and invited relatives and friends to spend time at “Camp Koven.” Her husband, she said, loved food and loved people.

“He always thought of the other person and their comforts and when they were happy,” she said. “He didn’t enjoy anything unless he had others to share it with.”

When Merle’s father died in 1987, the Kovens purchased Rosen Heating and Cooling. Phil managed the Cataraqui Street business, which includes Lake Ontario Ice and a security network, while Merle ran Rosen Corporation, headquarters for the family business.

Phil Koven always made time for volunteer work, especially if it involved children. He served on the board of Ongwanada from 1981 to 1998, and served a two-year stint as president beginning in 1990.

John Fee, Ongwanada’s associate executive director, said that Koven had an “infectious enthusiasm and energy,” plus a quick wit and business acumen that he would bring to the board meetings. Koven, for example, always made a point of remembering people’s birthdays, Fee said.

In recognition of his contribution to the organization, Ongwanada honoured Koven by appointing him an honorary life member of the board.

Koven was also a member of the Kingston General Hospital board of governors, the Community Foundation of Greater Kingston, the Church Athletic League, Kingston Rotary Club, B’nai Brith, Israel Bonds, and a Free Mason. A supporter of Queen’s University, Koven and his wife established a bursary for senior students in danger of dropping out because of financial need.

Koven was also an amateur musician – he could play anything with a keyboard – and loved to fish and play poker.

His longtime friend, Sonny Sadinsky, first met Koven 45 years ago when Sadinsky came to Queen’s and Koven moved to Kingston. Sadinsky moved away and later returned as a professor in the Queen’s law school.

“I was thrilled to pick up with him again. He was warm, funny, generous, the best host in the world, loyal and a great friend,” Sadinsky said.

Sadinsky and Koven were both members of a poker group that met a couple of times a month and included the late Zal Yanovsky, a former rock singer and local businessman.

“He [Koven] was a great poker player,” Sadinsky said. “He kibitzed all the time. He was wonderful company, great fun to be with. We’re all going to miss him terribly.”

Adam Koven said that his father also had an amazing collection of antique miniatures and interesting hats. He collected the latter during his travels with Merle and many hang on the walls of the family home.

“Each hat had a story,” his son said.

Adam Koven added that he always admired his father’s uncanny, almost “sensory,” ability to say exactly the right thing to people.

“He had one skill I thought was the best, and I always try to do it,” he said. “He can stare at a person and know the thing about the person that they love about themselves the best.

“He could tell what people needed to hear.”

Hundreds of friends and relatives crammed into the Beth Israel Synagogue on Centre Street Monday afternoon for an emotional funeral service at which both the Koven sons spoke. Many of the mourners had been unaware of Phil Koven’s illness and cut short vacations so they could attend.

alukits@thewhig.com

 

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