Pioneering McDonald's franchisee and longtime Palm Beacher George Cohon, 86, dies

George Cohon, a part-time Palm Beach resident credited with bringing McDonald's to Russia and leading the iconic American restaurant's expansion throughout Canada, has died.

Mr. Cohon, 86, died Nov. 24 at his home in Toronto, his family said in an obituary. Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Susan; sons, Craig and Mark; daughter-in-law, Suzanne; three grandchildren; sister, Sandy Raizes; and nieces and nephews.

More: George Cohon overcame the odds to establish McDonald's in Russia

"Last night we said farewell to my Dad," George Cohon's son Mark posted Nov. 25 on the social media platform X. "Our family, Canada and the world lost a remarkable man."

As a McDonald's franchisee, Cohon borrowed $70,000 in 1967 to buy the first international license to bring the fast-food giant to Canada, opening his first location in London, Ontario, in 1968. For nearly 15 years from the late 1970s into the 1990s, he worked to bring the chain to Russia, opening the first Russian location in Moscow's Pushkin Square in 1990, a move he later referred to as "hamburger diplomacy."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Cohon was "remarkable."

"He was an accomplished businessman who never stopped giving back, and who dedicated himself to lifting others up," Trudeau said in a post on X, alongside a photo of himself with Cohon. "Our families' paths crossed multiple times over the years, and his passion for serving — and supporting — others was always evident."

Cohon also was a prolific philanthropist, donating to causes around the world and supporting many nonprofits in Palm Beach and Palm Beach County. He served on many nonprofits' boards and committees, including the executive committee of the Society of the Four Arts.

"It is with great regret and sadness that the Palm Beach Society of The Four Arts mourns the passing of George Alan Cohon, a long time trustee and valued member of its Executive Committee," the society said. "George was a man of quick wit, always cheerful, a good friend of many, and loved by all. He will be greatly missed. Go, George, on wings of angels. We will meet again on the other side. From the thousand members of the society."

He was recognized for his public service with awards in Canada, Russia and Israel.

Cohon was born on April 19, 1937, in Chicago to parents Carolyn, a homemaker, and Jack Cohon, a lawyer who later became a baker. George Cohon attended Northwestern Law School, where he met his future wife, Susan. They married in 1960 and George graduated with his law degree in 1961.

Cohon was drafted into the U.S. Air Force, then worked for his father's Chicago law firm, Cohon & Raizes.

It was while working there that he met McDonald's founder Ray Kroc. Cohon represented someone in negotiations with Kroc, and Kroc recognized potential in Cohon.

Speaking to the Palm Beach Daily News in 2010, Cohon said that when Kroc attended the ribbon-cutting for Cohon's first Canadian McDonald's, Kroc offered him $1 million for the Canadian rights to the business. Kroc told Cohon that everybody wants to be a millionaire, Cohon said.

"'If you want to be a millionaire tomorrow morning, you got it,'" Cohon recalled Kroc telling him. "My dad was sitting next to me and he poked me hard in the ribs. But I didn't go up there to sell out. It was a question of building an organization."

Cohon built his franchise into an empire of McDonald's restaurants from coast to coast in the country. He and his family settled in Toronto, and in 1973 Cohon became a Canadian citizen.

In addition to bringing McDonald's restaurants to the Great White North, Cohon also founded the Canadian arm of Ronald McDonald House Charities, which provides housing and support for families facing the challenges associated with medical care. His work included building what at the time was the largest Ronald McDonald House in the world, in Toronto.

In 1976, Cohon was president of McDonald's Canada when he met a delegation from the Soviet Union, in town for the Summer Olympics in Montreal. He took the delegation to McDonald's, and asked the officials how they thought the chain would do in Russia.

"They said very good," Cohon told the Palm Beach Daily News in 2010. "I said maybe we should think about taking a look at it."

That was the beginning of years of work, with Cohon reportedly knocking on doors and making inroads with Soviet officials. In his best-selling 1999 autobiography, "To Russia With Fries," Cohon said that there were tense meetings, including one in 1986 with a Moscow official where Cohon left with "the impression that this awkward confrontation — Adam Smith in one corner; Karl Marx in the other — had ended without a decision."

Despite setbacks, Cohon persisted, and eventually found himself negotiating a contract for a deal to bring McDonald's to the Soviet Union. At a Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce breakfast in 2014, Cohon said that just one point in the contract, of whether to serve Pepsi or Coca-Cola at the Pushkin Square restaurant, took four days to iron out.

When that first McDonald's finally opened its doors, thousands of Russians were in line, and 34,000 people were served that first day.

"And it's still the busiest McDonald's in the world," he said in 2014, adding, "What started as a Canadian dream is a Russian success story."

After successfully launching McDonald's in the country, Cohon and his son, Craig, later would bring Cirque du Soleil to Russia.

In his later years, Cohon enjoyed spending time with his family, pouring his efforts into his philanthropy and boating around Palm Beach. George and Susan Cohon moved part-time to the island about 25 years ago, with George telling the Palm Beach Daily News in 2018 that they fell in love with Palm Beach's beauty and ambience.

"This is where we want to be," he said. "It's a special place, and choosing to live here has been a good decision."

The couple was known for bringing their golden retrievers with them to visit families at the Quantum House in West Palm Beach, and branches of the Ronald McDonald House in Canada.

In that 2018 interview, Cohon said he would launch his 48-foot Hinckley boat from his dock on the Intracoastal, going out to the ocean through either the Boynton Beach or Jupiter inlets. He was known to dock the boat, named the McHappy III, in the Bahamas, at the Ocean Reef Club in the Keys, or at the Sailfish Club.

Throughout his life, Cohon said he enjoyed his work — and he encouraged others to do the same.

"If you're not having fun at a job, then change your job," he told the Palm Beach Chamber in 2014.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Pioneering McDonald's franchisee and Palm Beacher George Cohon dies