Obituary of Michelle C. Cozart

Michelle Dawn Cozart, beloved daughter of Helen Brewton and Lehman Cozart, was called home on December 11, 2025. She was born on August 11, 1962, at United Hospital in Port Chester, New York. Michelle attended school in Mamaroneck from kindergarten through twelfth grade and was a proud graduate of Mamaroneck High School.

Michelle was very athletic and loved staying active. She played softball, enjoyed roller skating, and would even play basketball at the park with her nephews and cousins.

After high school, Michelle worked at Happiness Laundry before beginning her career as a clerk with the Department of Social Services. She later spent time in Cortland with her Aunt Sarah, where she gave birth to her baby girl, Shana. After moving to Mount Vernon, Michelle became an assistant librarian. She also earned her security license and worked security at the library.

Michelle was deeply committed to her faith and spent a great deal of time in church. Her faith guided the way she lived, loved, and gave to others.

She was also deeply committed to her community. Michelle volunteered at food pantries and had a true love for cooking and feeding others. Anyone who had her fried chicken would tell you it was amazing—though Michelle always credited her cousin Nate for teaching her how to cook.

To know Michelle was to love her. She was kind, generous, and would give you the shirt off her back or her last dollar if you needed it. She was a little crazy—in the best way—and fiercely protective of the people she loved, often saying, “I’ll kill ’em dead if anybody messes with y’all.” Her family felt the same way about her, and she would joke with her cousins Tasha and Shimika about them being her bodyguards. Michelle loved hard. She was encouraging, supportive, and extremely funny. If she was in the room, you could be sure she was making someone laugh.

Michelle was incredibly proud to be a mother and grandmother. She loved her daughter and grandson, Shana and Nicholas, beyond words. They brought her immense joy, and she cherished every moment spent with them.

Michelle is survived by her daughter, Shana; her beloved grandson, Nicholas; her mother, Helen; her sisters, Dana, Teresa, Stephanie, Yvette, and Janice; her brother, Lehman; and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews.