Arthur Levy

1921 - 2017

Levy, Arthur
Arthur Levy, 96, of Worthington, passed away peacefully on Oct. 1, 2017. The evening before he died, he was surrounded by his loving family for his birthday celebration. Art was born in New York City (Queens) on Sept. 29, 1921 to Morris and Mary Levy. Art grew up in Richmond Hill, NY, and graduated from Queens College in 1943. Upon graduation from college, Art entered the U.S. Army. He spent most of his time in the service in Los Alamos, NM, working on the development of the atomic bomb, the Manhattan Project. He was discharged in March, 1946. He remained at Los Alamos a short while after the war in a civilian capacity and then went on and received his Master's in Science in physical chemistry from University of Minnesota in 1948. It was there that Art met his wife, Rita (Huch). Art and Rita were married 66 years. They were blessed with four children, Mark, Patty (King), Paul, and Rick. Art said Rita and his children were his greatest achievements. His family is incredibly thankful and blessed for having such a father and mentor help shape their lives. Art's career in chemistry started at the National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics (NASA today) in 1948-49, then Brookhaven National Laboratory from 1949-51, and finally at Battelle Memorial Institute from 1951-85 from which he retired as a Section Manager. After retiring from Battelle, he consulted for the Ohio Coal Development Office until 2005. Art's working career focused on combustion and air pollution, and included over 100 technical publications and three patents, as well as many oral presentations at technical meetings in the US, Europe, Japan and Israel. In his personal life, Art was an active member of the Tri-Village Sertoma Club, which he thoroughly enjoyed. His family greatly appreciates the effort to which members of Sertoma went to enable Art to continue to attend their meetings in recent times. Art was also an active member of the OSU chapter of the Catholic Commission on Intellectual and Cultural Affairs (CCICA). Art liked to swim and golf for exercise. He joked that he was a poor golfer and his three holes-in-one were proof that God has mercy on us all. That was just one example of his wonderful wit and sense of humor. Art will be remembered by friends and family for often laughing himself to tears. Art's friends enjoyed his wit but his wife, Rita, fell in love with him for it. Their family lore includes the story of a clever little cartoon Art sent Rita while they were dating. The rest is history – the cartoon was framed and cherished for the rest of their lives. Art was preceded in death by wife Rita, his daughter-in-law Janet (Smith) Levy, and his sister Mildred Singer. He is survived by Mark (Lisa) of Dayton, Patty (Tim) King of Hilliard, Paul (Robin) of Rochester, N.Y. and Rick (Deb) of Lewis Center; and his sister, Corine Shore of New Jersey. Art was also blessed with 12 grandchildren, Andrew (Kate) Levy of Chicago, Matt Levy of Buffalo, NY, James Levy of Dayton, Kate Levy of Ann Arbor, MI, Chris Levy of Chicago, Elizabeth Levy of Rochester, John Paul King of Hilliard, Ohio, Patrick Levy of Denver, Co, Scott Levy of Philadelphia, Pa, Lauren, Peter, and John Levy of Lewis Center; two great- grandchildren, Theo and Whitney of Chicago. Funeral arrangements are by Egan-Ryan Funeral Home. Mass of Christian Burial will be Wednesday, October 4, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Michael Church, 5750 N. High St. Visitation will begin at 9:30 a.m. that morning at the church. Burial will be at Resurrection Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to St. Vincent de Paul Society.