Marion Levy

1925 - 2023

Marion ("Penny") Levy
May 18, 2023
Age 98. Died peacefully in her sleep on May 18, 2023, a little more than a year after the death of her beloved husband of 69 years, Gerald Levy. She was the daughter of Pauline and James Fennelly and the mother of Alison Ryan of Earlysville, VA, Liz Levy Ward of Atlanta, GA, and Robert Levy of Bethesda, MD. A proud graduate of Christopher Columbus High School, Cornell University (BA), and Sarah Lawrence College (MA), she worked in public relations for Lord and Taylor, but most of her career was focused on family planning and women's health issues. As the Director of Women's Programs and Family Planning at Save the Children, she traveled extensively in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, and her experiences formed the basis for her book "Each in Her Own Way: Five Women Leaders of the Developing World." She served as Chair of the Board of Planned Parenthood of New York City, and as a board member of Save the Children, the Alan Guttmacher Institute, FINCA, the Experiment in International Living, and Citizens for Family Planning. She was an Adjunct Professor in the Women's Studies and Anthropology Department at Hunter College. Penny was an accomplished cook, an avid gardener (specializing in roses), and a voracious reader (who read The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Week, The New Yorker and The Economist until her last days). Friends and family remember her as a strong, smart, and passionate woman, devoted to the cause of women's rights and a loyal friend to many. She will be sorely missed.