Remember when: John Clinton Cohn of John’s Parking welcomed Husky fans each gameday
In addition to running a parking lot that was packed on game days, John Clinton Cohn was the florist and Husky super-fan behind Johnny's Flowers.
For nearly 60 years, Johnny’s Flowers occupied a storefront on the corner of Northeast 42nd Street and The Ave. A longtime Ave staple, the namesake florist shop was run by lifetime Seattleite John Clinton Cohn. In addition to the flower shop, Cohn ran John’s Parking, located just a block south, and he became well-known for greeting Husky fans on game days as they made their way to the stadium—a tradition he kept until he was 94.
“John was a brilliant floral designer,” says Elaine Cohn, John’s widow. “He was the main designer at the shop, but when he wasn’t there, he’d spend the day at the parking lot just talking to people, greeting them before games.”
John Clinton Cohn ran an eponymous flower shop and parking lot.
Born May 29, 1927, Cohn grew up in the Central District and attended Garfield High School, graduating in 1945. After serving in the Navy, Cohn opened Johnny’s Flowers in 1952.
“Johnny’s had been in business for 10 years when we got married,” Elaine notes, “and we sold it in 2001. John was very bright in terms of knowing how to run things. He knew how to buy just the right things at the right time, which is a secret in the flower business. He really cared about people and was very active in the local floral industry.” The flower shop would close in 2012.
That involvement included leadership positions in several trade organizations, including the Northwest branch of the Society of American Florists. “He was always helping others,” Elaine says. “He mentored a lot of young florists. The Seattle floral industry was fairly closed off in those days, but he was always willing to pass on knowledge to new shop owners. He just related to people around him.”
Elaine recalls one incident in the 1970s when the University District saw an influx of street kids and runaways. A young boy, around 14 years old, came into the shop asking for money.
“Johnny asked him to sit down and just started talking to him,” Elaine says. “He had gotten all the way to Seattle from the East Coast, and Johnny asked if he would like to call his mother, and the boy did, so Johnny helped reconnect them. He always cared about people.”
Aside from industry boards and committees, Cohn was active in the community at large. For years, he served as a member, then president, of the Herzl-Ner Tamid Cemetery committee—carrying on a family legacy. His grandfather, Joe Cohn, surveyed the land in 1909, and the first burial occurred in 1912. John Cohn served as president from 1970-2003, ending 97 years of cemetery leadership in the Cohn family between him, his father, Harry, and his grandfather, Joe. Additionally, Cohn was a member of the University Lions Club, an active Mason (a member of both the Greenlake and University lodges), and a Nile Shriner for more than 50 years.
For Elaine, who met Cohn on a blind date—his twin brother was married to an older sister of one of her girlfriends—it was easy to fall for the man running the flower shop, especially since their families had known each other for years. “We just clicked,” she says. “We were married six months later.”
That marriage lasted for 63 years until Cohn’s death at the age of 95 in February of 2023, and the couple had two children, two granddaughters, and one great-granddaughter (with another on the way). Looking back at her late husband’s life, she remembers his kindness, zest for life, and love of community.
“There were a lot of wonderful things about him,” she says. “He was a very warm, welcoming, enthusiastic person who really cared about those around him.”