Dr. Herbert A Levin's Obituary
Herb was born on Oct. 20, 1922, to the delight of his parents, Anna and Rubin Levin. Together with his 4 siblings, they spent their childhood in the area of Strawberry Mansion, in Philadelphia, Pa.
He attended Northeast High School and then attended Temple University. He received his undergraduate, Masters and PHD in Business Administration from Temple University.
Herb served his country in WWII by enlisting in the US Army even though he knew that a childhood accident that impaired his vision in his right eye would disqualify him. As a man of conviction, he memorized the eye chart so that he was accepted as an enlisted soldier. He was honorably discharged and proudly wore his Veteran’s hat in his later years.
Herb met the love of his life Marlene, on the boardwalk of Atlantic City, NJ. They were married 6 months after meeting and as husband and wife they were the best of friends for over 69 years. They raised their 3 children, whom they adored: Ronald (Carol), Caryn Cohen (Robert), and Laurie (Lesa Faris) in the Greater NE of Philadelphia.
Herb and Marlene loved to travel. Their favorite way to travel was via cruise ships. They visited most of Europe and Asia and also went to Israel. They would take their children on family vacations across the US and into Canada, attending the 1967 World’s Fair in Montreal, Quebec and also seeing both sides of Niagara Falls.
Herb had a voracious lifelong commitment to learning and his intelligence was overwhelmingly impressive. He instilled the importance of education into his 3 children and one of his favorite quotes was, “The only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary”.
Herb wrote his dissertation on the value of teaching a vocation to those high school students that were not interested to remain on an academic path. This would allow them to be gainfully employed straight out of high school.
After teaching for the Philadelphia School System, Herb was chosen to be the 1st Principal of Swenson Skills Center, located in NE Philadelphia. It was the first vocational education school in Philly that had students from neighboring high schools spend ½ their day at their home school and ½ at Swenson to learn a vocation. He retired from the school system after over 40+ years.
Herb served as President of the Men’s Club at Shaare Shamayim Synagogue where you would also find him and his children on Friday evenings or Saturday mornings for services.
Herb and Marlene spent their retirement years enjoying the beach in Hallandale, Florida before moving to Delray Beach, Florida where they lived for over 20 years.
Herb and Marlene enjoyed many years living at the Huntington Lakes Community in Delray Beach, and he formed and was the first President of the Philadelphia Club with over 100 members. At HL, they continued their love for dancing, were on the bowling team and participated in the shows that were performed for the residents and families.
Herb will always be remembered as a sweet, kind, honest man who would do whatever he could to help. He would always share his smile and and wanted nothing more than to know that those that he loved were happy. He will be missed by his wife, children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, sister, sister in law and a great grandchild as well as those that have met him throughout his long and full life.
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