Developer Martin Levin, 89, dies
, NJJN Staff Writer | 02.07.08

Martin Levin, 89, of South Orange, a prominent real estate developer in the Livingston area in the 1950s and ’60s who shared his success with the Jewish and greater community, died Feb. 2 at home in Palm Beach, Fla.

Mr. Levin was a contributor at the highest level to the UJA campaign throughout his adult life. His volunteer service began in the late 1940s; highlights include serving as major gifts chair and general campaign chair in 1958. He continued to serve in the 1980s as the UJA campaign chair for Mountain Ridge Country Club.

“Martin Levin was a builder in a multidimensional way,” said Max Kleinman, executive vice president of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ. “He built homes and office complexes as his profession. But he was the consummate Jewish community builder. Whether as UJA general campaign chair raising funds for Jews in need locally and worldwide, building infrastructure for the Northfield YM-YWHA and Daughters of Israel Geriatric Center, or soliciting endowments as president of Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest, Martin built a lifetime of helping others. That is his enduring legacy.”

Levin served two terms as president of the JCC in the early 1960s. He grew up going to the High Street Y in Newark and felt that the JCC’s role should be to unify the community. He endowed the Maurice Levin Theater at the Leon & Toby Cooperman JCC, Ross Family Campus, in West Orange in memory of his father.

“Martin’s death is a great loss to the MetroWest community,” said UJC MetroWest president Ken Heyman. “He was one of our most prominent supporters and leaders in the community throughout his lifetime. His stalwart commitment to a variety of Jewish organizations has left a deep imprint on many institutions…. His professional passion as a home builder carried into his passion for building community; he will be deeply missed by all.”

While serving as JCF president, Levin helped transform annual gifts to planned gifts and endowments. He said, “It is only by way of a strong foundation that the community can hope to move forward with confidence and with vision, and in keeping with the latest trends in community building.”

“Martin was ahead of his time in understanding that the foundation’s success meant building success for the continuity of the MetroWest community,” said JCF president Andy Stamelman.

Levin was also a trustee of Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston and served on the executive board of Temple B’nai Abraham in the 1950s.

He and his wife, Vivian, endowed the Martin and Vivian Levin Center for the Normal and Psychopathological Development of the Child and Adolescent at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The couple also made the lead gift for the JCC in Boulder, Colo., where his son David is active.

Levin’s proudest role as an activist with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, one of his most cherished causes, was serving as chair of the North Africa and Asia committee.

Born in Newark, he was a 1936 graduate of Weequahic High School. He graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and attained the rank of major in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

He is survived by his wife; two sons, Alan and David; a daughter, Susan; a stepdaughter, Jan Ball; a stepson, Richard Frieland; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Services were held Feb. 4 at Temple B’nai Abraham in Livingston. Arrangements were handled by Bernheim-Apter-Kreitzman Suburban Funeral Chapel, Livingston. Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Palm Beach County, 5300 East Ave., West Palm Beach, FL 33407; call 561-848-5200.

Local stories posted courtesy of the New Jersey Jewish News