H. Irwin Levy, the developer of Century Village and patriarch of the Palm Beach County Jewish community, died July 31 at his West Palm Beach home, surrounded by his family.
He was 97 years old.
Born June 23, 1926 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the former longtime Palm Beacher was the eldest of the five sons of Jacob and Mary (Feuerman) Levy.
Jacob Levy owned and operated a wholesale shoe business started by his father, and was a man deeply devoted to the Jewish community.
After graduating from college in 1944, Mr. Levy enlisted in the Army Air Corps.
After his wartime service, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University, and, after a short stint as an accountant, took his mother’s advice and entered Cornell Law School.
While at Cornell, he met Jeanne Siskin, and they married after his second year of law school. The couple honeymooned in Miami and Mr. Levy was so taken with South Florida that he called his father and said “Dad, I’m not coming home.”
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He finished his final year of law school at the University of Miami and passed the bar exam on his first attempt. He was a member of the Florida and Palm Beach County bar associations for more than 70 years.
He established a law firm in West Palm Beach that remained active long after he left the active practice of law in 1969 to devote himself full time to his burgeoning real estate development business.
From that business came Century Village, which sparked a population boom, especially in the Jewish community.
In 1969, he assumed the role of chairman and CEO of Cenvill Communities and built three more Century Village projects and a Wynmoor Village.
Its creation and management of more than 37,000 homes across South Florida made Cenvill the largest builder of condominiums in the United States.
“I’m not as smart as people think I am,” he once said in an interview. “I didn’t know a damn thing about building, but I was smart enough to ask for help.”
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Following the example set by his father, the Levys became leaders in philanthropy, establishing a network of Jewish organizations to support the community.
Mr. Levy was a founding leader of Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, the Mandel Jewish Community Center, Meyer Jewish Preparatory School, Joseph L. Morse Geriatric Center, The Kravis Center and the Palm Beach Fellowship of Christians and Jews. He was a past president of Temple Beth El in West Palm Beach, and a member and supporter of Temple Emanu-El in Palm Beach and Temple Israel in Scranton.
Michael Hoffman, president and CEO of Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, said “Irwin was a trailblazer and pioneer of this community. He exhibited brilliant vision, selfless leadership, savvy business skills, and overwhelming kindness and generosity throughout his lifetime. It was his unequaled foresight and ingenuity that built what we have here today in the Palm Beaches, one of the most thriving local Jewish communities in the world.”
Mr. Levy also was a staunch advocate for Israel. He was directly responsible for securing $1.6 billion in U.S. grants to rescue and relocate nearly 1 million persecuted Jews from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia to Israel.
He supported worldwide Jewry through the National United Jewish Appeal, United Israel Appeal, The Jewish Agency for Israel, American Friends of Hebrew University, City of David in Jerusalem, and The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Additionally, he and Jeanne created the Jeanne and Irwin Levy Day Care Center in Hod Hasharon, Israel, bettering the lives of young children in the region.
Natan Sharansky, the refusenik and Soviet political prisoner who went on to become deputy prime minister of Israel said Mr. Levy’s “initiative helped persuade leaders in the United States to actively support the rescue and absorption of nearly a million Jews.”
Jeanne Levy died in 1990.
In 1994, Mr. Levy married Ellen Schwartz, who survives him.
He is also survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Lynn Levy Peseckis and Frank Peseckis of Singer Island; his son and daughter-in-law, Mark F. Levy and Stacey K. Levy of Palm Beach Gardens; grandchildren Noah Peseckis of Jupiter and Sara (Lawrence) Peseckis of Greenwood Village, Colorado, Jourdan (John) Levy Bizanes of Jupiter and Joshua Levy of New York; great-grandchildren Liam, Evan and Ari Peseckis and William and Blake Bizanes; and Ellen’s children Adam (Lauren) Schwartz and Lara Lerner and their seven children.
He is also survived by two sisters-in-law, Lillian and Ceil Levy; brother-in-law Phillip Siskin and his wife Leah Siskin; and many loving nieces and nephews, grand nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by his four brothers, Bernard, Myron, Benjamin and Robert Levy.
A funeral service will take place at 11 a.m. Thursday at Temple Emanu-El, 190 N. County Road.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County at 1 Harvard Circle, Ste. 100, West Palm Beach, FL 33409, or The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 1111 19th Street NW – Suite 500, Washington D.C. 20036.
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