Sylvia Levinson

Sylvia Spector Levinson, died on Monday, September 22nd, at the age of 86. She was born in Chicago to Sam and Ida Spector on May 25th 1928. Immigrants from Ukraine, her parents settled in Detroit, opening a fruit and vegetable market and later a pickle business. The years of the Depression and World War II were difficult, but Sylvia thrived in school and excelled in all her classes. Her close friends nicknamed her "The Brain" and she often reminisced about spending afternoons with a book overlooking the trees from the window seat of her family home.
After high school, she was offered scholarships from all the top Michigan universities. She attended Wayne State University, where she met her future husband, Stuart, in a geography class. They married and moved to St. Louis where Stuart completed his PhD in paleontology and their first child, Larry, was born. She frequently described this period as one of the most exciting times of her life. They moved to Houston in 1951 where Stuart started his career with Humble Oil. The Fifties brought two more children, Rick and Vicki, to the Levinson home. Deep friendships were born in Houston seven decades ago that continue to this day. Sylvia always referred to these lifelong friends as family.
Sylvia had an amazing capacity to love and support people. She was devoted to her family, her many close friends, and to her community. In the mid 60's, Sylvia began her career as a social worker at the Jewish Community Center in various programs including the day camp. She then turned her attention to the B'nai B'rith Goldberg Towers where she became its Director. She enjoyed overseeing the operations of this large community of seniors and people with disabilities, but her real love was spending time with the residents and attending to their needs. She regularly came home with touching stories from the people she served and with baked goods given to her as appreciative gifts. Her career continued at Jewish Family Service where she participated in the Russian and Iranian Resettlement programs. She was inspired by the courageousness of these new immigrants and their efforts to build new lives here. Over time she recognized their need for support in acquiring citizenship. From scratch she created a curriculum to guide these new Houston residents through the arduous process and then spent years teaching the program, helping many to become US citizens. Part of her motivation was the passion and appreciation her own mother regularly expressed about emigrating to this country and becoming an American citizen. A few months into her retirement, she was asked to join The Pinemont in northwest Houston to once again serve seniors and people with disabilities. As always, she was highly respected by her colleagues and adored by the people she served. In 2005 the Jewish Federation honored her with the Hans Mayer Jewish Communal Professional Award for outstanding service to the Houston Jewish community.
Sylvia was generous, fiercely accepting of others, genuinely kind, and infinitely patient. She loved her husband, she loved her children and their spouses (who were her children). She loved her grandchildren and great-grandchildren- and she loved her friends. And she loved them all well.
She was preceded in death by her husband Stuart. She is survived by her son Larry and wife Gail Levinson, son Rick and wife Lynne Levinson of Austin, and daughter Vicki and husband Keith Novorr of Prairie Village, Kansas; grandchildren Dana and Ken Persky, Amy and Adam Siegel, Michael Novorr, Josh Novorr and Jake Levinson; great-grandchildren Bryan and Jason Persky and Ethan and Spencer Siegel. Funeral Services will be held at the Emanu El Cemetery, 8341 Bissonnet, on Sunday, September 28th at 11:00 AM, Rabbi Roy Walter officiating. Pallbearers are William Spitz, Stuart Jacobson, Jay Peters, Jake Levinson, Josh Novorr, Michael Novorr, Ken Persky, Adam Siegel, Steve Spector, and Paul Spector. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Sylvia's memory to the Jewish Family Service of Houston, or a charity of your choice.