Terry Arthur Talent Jr., civic-minded co-owner of the Phoenix Store, dies at age 84

Terry Arthur Talent Jr. of Dingmans Ferry, Pa., made the transition to his next phase of existence after a long illness on July 13, 2020, at his winter home in Houston, Texas. Over the past several months, his loving husband, Doug Cosh, cared for him both in and out of the hospital.

Terry Talent was born in San Antonio, Texas, on May 16, 1936, to Dana Lee and William Woodward Gann and adopted at birth by Terry Sr., and Josephine (Jo) Talent.

The family moved several times during Talent’s childhood due to his father’s job as District Supervisor of the Bureau of Alcohol and Narcotics. After attending the University of Denver, Talent joined the Navy, eventually switching to the Air Force. He was a veteran of Korea and Viet Nam and left the service in 1965 to work for Gulf Oil in Houston as an accountant. After five years, he began a new career in the remodeling business, owning a store, Just Ahead, in Houston.

In 1976 he met the love of his life, Doug Cosh, at a dinner party in Sussex, N.J. At the time, Cosh owned an antiques and gift store, Through the Looking Glass, in Dingmans Ferry. That December the couple began a pattern of wintering in Houston and coming back to the Milford, Pa., area in May of each year. After an oil truck crashed into Cosh’s store, burning it to the ground, they became regular dealers at the 76th Street Flea Marker in Manhattan.

Over the years, they took many road trips throughout the Southwestern United States and Mexico, purchasing Native American jewelry and collectibles and finding unique sources for what eventually became the Phoenix store that exists today on Route 209. Recently, the couple also operated a second store, the Phoenix East, in Milford for three years.

A pillar of the Milford area community, he and his husband supported many local groups by hosting fundraisers, exhibits and parties as well as donating auction prizes for non-profits such as the Black Bear Film Festival, Safe Haven, the Ecumenical Food Pantry, The Milford Readers & Writers Festival, TriVersity, PALS, The Marie Zimmerman House, and other charities. Every five years Talent and Cosh have hosted dinner and an overnight for the Lenape Indians who canoe down the Delaware to Philadelphia in honor of signing a treaty there.

Other survivors include his sister, Teresa Talent Selby; his nephew, Jason; as well as a birth sister, Pamela (Dana) Davis, whom he connected with along with his birth mother (now deceased), when he had his adoption records unsealed at age 65.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Terry’s name to The Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, 110 Catharine Street, Milford, PA 18337.

A celebration of Terry’s life will take place at the Phoenix in Dingmans Ferry when large assemblies of people are again permitted and wise to attend.