Walter Levy

Col. Walter Levy Col. Walter Levy, 78, who retired from the Army and was executive director of the Ruby Diamond Charitable Foundation, died Thursday, May 29, 2003. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday at Temple Israel, 2215 Mahan Drive. Family will receive friends at the family residence after the service. Memorial contributions may be made to Scholarship Foundation, MOAA, P.O. Box 4038, Tallahassee, FL 32315; Disabled American Veterans, Chapter Five, P.O. Box 12005, Tallahassee, FL 32317; or Temple Israel Capital Improvement Endowment Fund, 2215 Mahan Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32308. Culley's MeadowWood Funeral Home, Riggins Road Chapel (877-8191) is handling local arrangements. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on July 11, with full military honors. Family and friends were in attendance. After the service, a reception was held at the Women’s Memorial Building, adjacent to the entrance to Arlington. He was a resident of Tallahassee from 1969 until his death at Tallahassee Community Hospital from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was born April 6, 1925, in Undenheim, Germany, the second of three children. The nearest synagogue was in nearby Schorshein, founded by Jews who had fled Spain in 1492. Starting in 1935, Nazi restrictions on Jewish life began to weigh on the family. The children were ousted from their beloved school, and the family was moved from one designated Jewish area to another. Fortunately, in 1937 the family received visas for emigration to the United States. Upon graduating from high school in 1944, the 19-year old Levy was drafted into the Army, where he was trained as a medical technician, including operating-room assistant. While in training, he was awarded the Expert Infantry Badge. He spent the remaining war years in the Far East tending to wounded and ill soldiers. With the war over, he was mustered out in 1945. He joined the rest of his generation in attending college on the GI Bill, in this instance at the University of Connecticut. While in college, he augmented his income by taking courses in ROTC, the Reserve Officers Training corps. When he received his diploma, he also received his commission as 2nd Lt. in the U. S. Army Infantry Reserve. A few weeks later the North Koreans invaded South Korea, sparking the Korean War. President Harry Truman immediately called up to active duty the entire generation of young officers and NCOs who had served in World War II. This included the newly-commissioned 2nd Lt. Walter Levy. Instead of being sent to Korea, he was assigned to a unit in Germany and was shipped off on a troop ship with 1,000 other men and 20 nurses. During the voyage, he managed to beat out the other men and hit it off with one of the nurses, 2nd Lt. Diana Zinke, who actually outranked him by a few months of seniority. Walter went on to his assignment in Germany. After three years on active duty, Diana took the opportunity to be de-mobilized and went back to her home in Seattle, Wash. Walter waited until he could stand it no longer, telephoned her in Seattle and proposed marriage. They were married March, 1954, in Seattle. They had two children, and had an eventful, military family marriage. They had many interesting assignments and lived in many interesting places, including Berlin. There he was inducted into the Berlin Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons. In 1962 their blissful life was interrupted while Walter was assigned to Vietnam as a communications officer. There he accomplished the task of tying all the military communications in the country together so that different units in different parts of the country could communicate with one another. These units received the "President’s award." He was awarded the Bronze Star for exceptional valor in the face of enemy action. He also earned the Legion of Merit with one oak leaf cluster and the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters. As a rising young officer, he was assigned to and graduated from the Army’s Command and General Staff College at Leavenworth, Kan. In 1969, the family was assigned to an obscure, Southern city with an odd name - Tallahassee. Walter’s office was in the old Armory building on Seventh Avenue and North Monroe. He was in charge of all National Guard and Reserve affairs in the Panhandle. Within the next year, he capped his career by being promoted to full colonel. He retired from his military career that had started with his enlistment in 1944 - and time off for school. But retirement from active duty did not mean retirement from activity. For a while, he worked for the state of Florida as a budget analyst, but his extracurricular activities soon became overwhelming for any one job. He was very active in Temple Israel, serving as secretary and treasurer and was elected president for two successive terms. He was involved in the creation of the Ruby Diamond Charitable Foundation. He was its director for many years, dispensing charitable donations throughout the area, including an annual contribution to the Tallahassee Little Theater, on whose board he sat. He was a recipient of the Little Theater's President's Award. Walter was thought of as a big and strong man with the heart of an artist, but he never lost interest in military matters. He served a term as president of the local chapter of the Military Officers Association and chair of its service committee. A life member of the Disabled American Veterans, he served a term as president of local Chapter Five. He was a big supporter of the Boy Scouts of America, where his son was an Eagle Scout, and served on various troop committees. He was active in the Lincoln High School PTO, serving as vice president in 1978. He was a member of the Tallahassee Symphony Society and did yeoman work in support of its many activities and functions. He also helped organize the Tallahassee Civic Ballet and was its second president. He was a life member of the National Philatelic Society and a member of the Tallahassee Stamp and Cover Club. When the U.S. Veterans Administration built an outpatient clinic in Tallahassee, he came forward to organize its invaluable volunteer corps. He was the first president of its volunteer council. He was recognized by the Veterans Administration for accumulating 1,000 hours of volunteer work. He is survived by his wife, Diana; a son, Lt. Col. David Levy, USAF, (and wife Rachelle) of Sterling, Va.; a daughter, Corinne Levy of San Francisco; a brother, Harry Levy (and wife Marian) of Middleboro, Mass.; a brother-in-law, Bernhard Hildenbrand of Rockville, Md.; and a grandson, Devin Patrick of Delaware.