Shelley Levine

1948 - 2026

On January 28th, Shelley Levine, a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, friend, and teacher passed away after a multi-year battle with a rare neurological disease. Shelley was the wife of Zack Levine, mother of Alexander (Sierra) Levine, Benjamin (Lisa) Levine and Keith (Daniele Melia) Levine, grandmother of Amelia and Zephyr Levine, Camryn and Preston Levine, Beatrix and Felix Melia-Levine, sister of Betsy Eichholz (Karen Scopino), Charles (Bonnie) Alter, and David (Carol) Alter, and sister-in-law of Howard Levine.



Born Rochelle Alter in 1948 in New London CT, Shelley, known as Ro to her family and friends, spent her early years having fun at the local beach and playing with her three siblings whom she loved dearly. As teenagers she and Zack met and became friends and later began dating. After Shelley graduated from Boston University in 1970, she married Zack in December of the same year while she began pursuing a masters in education at The University of Connecticut and he was in Coast Guard OCS.



Once married, Shelley and Zack began their globe-trotting journey together, living in a total of 12 different houses in multiple states and even an apartment in Germany. Somewhere along the way came Alex, Ben and Keith. With each move Shelley built new long-lasting friendships many of which are still maintained today.



Throughout the family travels, Shelley pursued her career as a teacher with a specialization in remedial reading, primarily focused on helping first and second graders to improve their reading skills. She taught in several different states, including two stints in North Carolina for a total of eleven years.



All the while Shelley made sure her three boys focused on their schoolwork, participated in after school activities, and kept the family as a whole strong and organized. Family and friends were extremely important to her. No matter where they called home at the time, Shelley always made it a priority to travel back to New England to visit with family each year. In her personal time, she loved to read books from the public library, often finishing 4 or 5 books a week. She was also passionate about travel, always planning trips to new places, and when at home she loved to go shopping or out to dinner and the movies with Zack and their friends.



After being diagnosed with Corticobasal Degeneration, Shelley spent the last few years of her life close to home where her family and friends would come visit with her. Zack remained by her side every single day, making sure she got the comfort and care she deserved. They celebrated 55 years of marriage this past December.



Her family is grateful to the many caretakers who helped her towards the end of her life, including Chantal Joseph, Romonda Lewis, Sha'ron Shaw and the late Tamarra Thomas.



A graveside funeral was held on Friday, January 30 at Forest Lawn East Funeral Cemetery, 3700 Forest Lawn Dr, Matthews, NC 28104.



In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to CurePSP through the website psp.org.