David Levitan Obituary

Levitan, David "Doody" December 1, 1925 to February 25, 2018 A first generation American born to Russian immigrant parents, David grew up on the Far West Side of Chicago. He attended Mason Elementary School, and then Marshall High School. He was an avid athlete voted the most athletic in his school's yearbook participating in baseball, boxing, and most notably, basketball. He was part of the famous Commando basketball team that would go on to win a record 98 games straight and get inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Years later, the book Road to Glory was written about this team, and David was named as a defense specialist. After graduating from high school, David who was affectionately known as Doody went to fight for his country in World War II and served in Patton's army at the Battle of the Bulge. After serving in the army, he attended Roosevelt University for his undergraduate career and then Loyola, where he received his Master's Degree in education. He found his passion in teaching and taught at Jefferson School (Grades K-8), later becoming Assistant Principal and then Principal. Shortly after returning from duty in Europe and while he was attending Roosevelt University, he met his bride of 69 years, Norma Perlow, on a chance meeting when a bus strike brought them together on the Chicago elevated train. Dave and Norma shared a home in the suburb of Morton Grove for 56 years before moving to Santa Rosa, California in 2012 to be close to their youngest daughter. In his free time, he played bridge, served on the Chicago board for The Blind Services, served on the board for the Labor Zionist Organization, in addition to managing Camp Tavor in Michigan for 3 summers, and also played tennis until he was well into his 80's. He studied at Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics for speedreading and later opened his own school in Skokie with a partner. In his lifetime, Dave was able to read over 10,000 books. He was a lifelong patron of the arts, he often attended the Chicago Lyric Opera and Chicago Symphony, in an addition to being a prolific pen and ink artist himself. He had a zest for life like no one else, and he was one to never miss a party (especially when there was good food). He is survived by his wife, Norma, daughters Beth, Rama, and Rachel, and eight grandchildren. He was also a proud great-grandfather of 11 great-grandchildren, all of whom live in Israel.