Steven P. Levine

February 1, 1950 was a time of great celebration for the Levine family because Steven Paul Levine was born. Now, August 7, 2021 will always be a time of great sorrow for Steve's friends and family because he has left his Earthly body to return home. Though Steve's physical presence no longer remains, his light and spirit will always be with us. He shared a little spark of his soul with each us and for that reason, our lives will never be the same. He made us better, and because of him, we will continue to share his light long after his passing, and the world will be a better place because of it. On February 1, 1950, Eugene Levine and Pearl Boxer Levine celebrated with tears of joy the birth of their first born child, Steven Paul Levine. From the very beginning, Steve was a ball of unlimited energy; running, laughing, or impishly grinning, he always exhibited his exuberance for life in everything he did. He loved meeting people and making new friends and he always went out of his way to help them. Growing up in West Nyack, New York, Steve wanted to do a lot of things but his parents encouraged him to make wise choices, because they worked full-time in their family business, Levine's Dry Goods Store in Pearl River, NY, and had limited funds and limited time for them to dedicate to Steve. They did the best they could and taught Steve the the importance of outstanding customer service. One of Steve's first extracurricular activities was scouting in the BSA. He became a Cub Scout, then a Boy Scout. Later on, Steve was so proud to be selected as a member of the Order of the Arrow. His only regret was he could never could qualify to be an Eagle Scout. He had a bad arm that was injured when he was hit by a car and he never could fulfill the swimming requirement. Some of Steve's favorite memories were from his time at Clarkstown Senior High School (Class of '68). Throughout his four years there, he was part of the Class Council, in Band (tenor saxophone), in Chorus, on the Junior Prom Planning Committee, on the Junior Class Card Party Committee, part of the SAGA Yearbook Staff, and Wrestling Junior Varsity Team where he proudly wore his letterman jacket and matching scarf. Steve also was the self-appointed manager of the Varsity Majorettes, a position he creatively made up on his own. He loved being surrounded by beautiful young women and would drive as many of them that he could fit inside his "nerdy" 1961 Rambler American. He was the envy of a lot of guys in high school. Some of his dearest, platonic longtime relationships were with several of those Majorettes including Head Drum Majorette and best friend for life, Bonnie Gaffney. In addition to all he did in high school, it wasn't unusual for Steve to be working three different jobs after school, a drive-in movie theater attendant, a sous-chef and busboy at a restaurant, and a bellman at a hotel where he personally catered to a lot of "made men". It's no wonder that Steve ended up with pneumonia and missed out on attending Woodstock that he had tickets for. After graduating from Clarkstown Senior High School, Steve attended SUNY Delhi and got a degree in Hotel Restaurant Management. He was also a proud member of Phi Sigma Tau Fraternity. He found out in his senior year that Disney was opening up in Florida and there were going to be three job positions available for the graduates. A headhunter was coming to the campus after Spring Break to interview any senior who was interested. Steve got the bright idea to get ahead of everyone and called the headhunter to interview him for one of the positions while Steve was "visiting" the area. Steve drove to Florida during Spring Break, did a stunning interview with the headhunter, and closed with a hand shake to give Steve the coveted position in Orlando as long as he had graduated. Apparently, the headhunter had gotten Steve's transcripts and knew that Steve wasn't passing. Steve stood up and reached out his hand. He then shook it and got the headhunter to agree to give him the coveted Orlando position if he did pass! Knowing his grades were borderline, clever Steve made a deal with each of his professors to base his class grade on his final exam. He told each professor that he only needed one of them to graduate but instead it was really each of them had to agree for him to actually graduate. Amazingly, he did well enough on each final exam that he passed with a 2.000005 GPA! In addition, he got the coveted position and the other two top students got lesser desirable locations in Florida. Steve used to joke that he graduated in that ten percent of the class that makes the upper ninety percent possible! Steve always believed in himself and said that grades did not define him, his determination did. He had some learning disabilities that were never diagnosed when he was in school but he managed to overcome them. Steve always wanted to be an inspiration to youth. He regularly would say, "I want to prove to those students in the same percentile I was in that their grades are not a deterrent to what they can achieve in life and/or business. My grades were my motivator to show everybody that I was no dummy. I was determined to make something of myself and to bless others through philanthropy and as a mentor." After working for many years in Orlando for hotels and restaurants, Steve ended up working in Hotel Management, Real Estate as a Realtor(R) in Orlando, Apartment Management - Leasing and Marketing, and then finally, Publishing. His accomplishments and accolades are innumerable. He is the former EVP/National Sales Trainer at Haas Publishing Company in Norcross, Georgia where he created The Apartment Guide and The Perfect Wedding Guide. He is the former National Sales Trainer at Homes & Land Magazines in Tallahassee, Florida. He was President of Steve Levine Real Estate Media, Owner/President of Legacy Publishing Group, LLC, Senior Director of Ignite Energy (Now part of ACN), Executive Publisher of H.U.G.E. Magazine (Health Under Government Employment) - SANAA Publishing, LLC, Publisher of Real Estate Executive Magazine and Builder/Agent Magazine, Publisher/Partner of Rising Star Magazine, Profiles Magazine, and Premier Agent Magazine, Partner/Business Coach of Coaching & Connections for Small Business, and Executive Publisher of Small Business Today Magazine. Steve was featured in "Who's Who in Professional Speaking" and Who's Who in Sales & Marketing" in 1987 as a Member of the National Speakers Association. Steve's philanthropy is equally extensive. He was a Platinum Board Member at Night of Superstars, Chairperson at Night of Superstars, Former Board Member of Hebrew Order of David - Galil and Hebrew Order of Davis -Tikvah, Brand Ambassador at Including Kids, Inc. (Inkids Autism Center and Parent to an autistic son), Board Member of Cease Addiction Now, Board Member of Phoenix Charities: Stop the Demand (Human Trafficking) and former Board Member of Altus Foundation. Steve has been duly recognized by the U.S. Congress, Office of the Mayor of Houston, and a multi-gold winning Paralympian. On top of that, Steve and his wife/partner, Barbara Davis-Levine have been recognized in three books written by Hank Moore that have been nominated for Pulitzer Prizes for Steve's and his wife Barbara's contributions to small businesses and support of so many others. In recognition of Steve's 40 Years in Publishing, Steve was given a City of Houston Proclamation naming June 10th (the date in 1979 that he started his publication career) as "STEVE LEVINE DAY" in Houston, Texas! Also, at that same event, Steve was presented with an Olympic Gold Medal (not an actual 1st Place Medal), but, one that is presented to visiting dignitaries who attended the XXX Olympiad London 2012) by multi-gold medal Paralympian, Kevin Saunders (who has sat on every President's Physical Fitness Council over the last two decades, for Steve's and wife Barbara's philanthropy and community support. Steve was instrumental in keeping the PHI SIGMA TAU fraternity brothers and DELTA ZETA TAU sorority sisters together through the pandemic by continuing to update the database with members not previously contacted and arranging Zoom Calls to visit with each other and promote SUNY Delhi. In addition, Steve successfully organized and found many missing alumni for the Clarkstown Senior High 50th Year Class Reunion with the help of other former classmates. Partners in life and in business, Steve leaves behind his wife of 22 years of marriage, Barbara Bram Davis-Levine. He also leaves behind his beloved sister, Tracey Levine, adored sons, Jason Levine and Timothy Levine, plus treasured daughter-in-law, Renea Levine. Steve was so proud of Jason's accomplishments in everything he did. He loved so much how Renea had such a sweet, special relationship with Steve's autistic son, Timothy. Even though Steve was the stepfather of Jerome Davis and Gina Davis-Dennen, he loved them too and appreciated their caring spirits. Steve and Barbara lived life to the fullest. In spite of their ups and downs, they never let adversity define them. As a business partners working together for 22 years, they complimented each other. They did everything together which could sometimes lead to friction between them and make them look like the "Batttling Bickersons" but they always patched things up because they realized their love for each trumped everything. Steve used to joke and say, "I married well but Barbara didn't!" In reality, they both admired each other for what their strengths were. Barbara was always amazed at Steve's tremendous organization skills, tenacity, and self discipline. Quite opposites in some ways, Barbara always liking to get up at "the crack of noon", Steve arose every morning at 5:30 AM. He attended morning minyan services at UOS over the years and more recently CBY morning minyans in the Greenfield Chapel. Steve was so proud to be a Levi and oftentimes attended two minyans each morning just so there would be enough men present for a minyan. He was so proud of his Agaam tallis that he received as a wedding gift from his wife, Barbara, and mother-in-law, Lillian Bram Miller Z"L and wore it every morning with his tefillin. Steve was brought up very Reformed and even at his Bar Mitzvah, didn't lay tefillin. Steve's first wife, Margaret, wasn't Jewish. Eventually after many years of marriage, they decided it was better for them to go their separate ways but remained friends for the sake of their special needs son, Timmy. One of Steve's struggles was that he had lost his sense of being a Jew. Because of that, he only wanted to date Jewish women so he could rekindle his faith. After Barbara and Steve met, they found they shared a love of Mickey Mouse and eventually had a Disney themed wedding with Barbara wearing a white Minnie Mouse hat with ears and a veil and Steve wore a black top hat with Mickey ears. Everyone dressed in a theme of each one's favorite Disney character. One person came as Cinderella before the transformation and another dressed like a Dalmatian. The wedding was quite a blast and even had two large blocks of ice sculptures of Mickey and Minnie in wedding attire. The Chuppah was made of a wrought iron gazebo with Mickey head profiles in it on top of concrete columns. It was officiated by Rabbi Joseph Radinsky Z"L and Steve's friend from high school, Kerry Baker, who always wanted to be a Rabbi. At that time, Kerry was a Rabbi at Hillel at the University of Texas in Austin. At the end of the ceremony, Rabbi Radinsky Z"L impromptu started singing the Mickey Mouse song because all the guests were given kazoos to hum the song with but most of them didn't know how to use a kazoo!!! Before the ceremony ended and the Ketubah was presented, Rabbi Radinsky Z"L said to Steve, "In this Ketubah, you promise Barbara everything and she promises you nothing. I hope you promise to keep your promises!" There was so much music and dancing with over 300 people in attendance and it was catered by the world famous chef, Yaacov Shteyman. The highlight of the wedding was when Steve and Barbara departed in a white horse-drawn carriage decked out in Mickey Mouse balloons. Steve and Barbara had many struggles throughout their marriage including having their home flood four times, heart attacks (Barbara, Steve, and Jerome), and injuries from car accidents. In spite of everything, they lived each day to the fullest and never had any regrets. At Barbara's encouragement, she finally got Steve to lay tefillin. It was at a dinner at Rabbi Zaklikofsky and Rebbetzin Esty's home when they moved to Pearland. Barbara took Rabbi Yossi to the side and asked him to get Steve to lay tefillin. Steve had seemed to be terrified of trying to do the task and had told Barbara several times he didn't want to do it, but Barbara finally prevailed, and the mitzvah was accomplished. Once Steve did it, he was exhilarated by it and wanted to learn more. He finally was connecting with his Jewish spirit and he did it with a fervor. Barbara's father-in-law, Sol Davis Z"L (father of her late husband, Steven Davis Z"L), helped Steve acquire his first tefillin and Sol treated Steve like a bar mitzvah along with Rabbi Gelman and the other morning minyan participants at UOS. Steve became quite proficient in laying the tefillin even though he felt like a donkey in a horse race when it came to the davening. Sadly, after the last flood, Steve lost his treasured tefillin. He was initially upset but happy to find out that Barbara had salvaged his treasured tallis and had taken it to the dry cleaners. Soon after, Rabbi Yossi called Steve to ask him if he needed anything. Steve replied, "I need tefillin!" Rabbi Yossi said to Steve that he would check around and would get back with him. A short time later, Rabbi Yossi presented a new pair of tefillin to Steve through a kind benefactor who wanted to donate the tefillin in his late son's memory. That son was Mendel Cotlar. Unbeknownst to Steve or the Rabbi, months before the flood, Barbara had called Steve at work and asked him to lay tefillin in the merit of Mendel's speedy recovery. Steve was confused about who this person was and why he should do it. Barbara explained that she had read on the internet that requests were being made to help Mendel recover from his coma. She didn't know him either but knew that Steve would want to help after she explained it. Barbara's son Jerry also layed tefillin when Rabbi Lazaroff came over to the house and brought a new mezuzah. So how miraculous and divine that Steve should be repaid for his mitzvah by a new pair of tefillin from the family of Mendel Cotlar! Steve's caring nature and his desire to want to help everyone in their time of need was always so typical of him. Barbara and he shared that passion together and that's why Barbara found Steve to be so attractive. It was from his beauty within. Their biggest delight was to find youth and freely mentor them to become successful entrepreneurs and business people. Many youth are successful today because of Steve (and Barbara by his side). May Steve's legacy continue on forever in making the world a better place. If you missed the service yesterday please click here to watch : https://vimeo.com/586571330

Steven P. Levine

February 1, 1950 - August 7, 2021