Dr. Edith R. Levy, Ed.D., of Morgantown, passed away peacefully on Nov. 11, 2023, in Yardley, Pa. We thank those who helped her along the way and celebrate her triumphant life.
Born Feb. 21, 1930, in Vienna, Austria, of the late Yetta Bayla and Yosef David Rechter, Edith was the middle of three children. Her life was normal until Nov. 9, 1938, when she witnessed the Nazi violence of Kristallnacht in Vienna. Thereafter, her life would never return to normal.
In 1938, at eight years of age, she and her family fled Austria’s Nazi rule and escaped to Belgium. The Nazis eventually apprehended her father, and he died in Auschwitz. Edith, her mother and two brothers evaded capture while hiding in basements and attics. The family acknowledges Madame Elizabeth Hoolman whose heroic efforts in hiding them successfully saved them from the Nazis. As a young girl, and beyond the end of the war, Edith applied her masterful knitting skills to help her family make money. She often spoke of her experiences foraging for scraps of previously used yarn while within arms-reach of Nazi soldiers.
Following the war, Edith defeated tuberculosis, completed studies to become a stenographer, and became an employee of the S.A. Morgan company in Brussels, Belgium. After a storybook romance, on Feb. 26, 1955, she married Marcus Levy, a former Navy radioman hailing from Brooklyn, New York. They moved to New York City in 1956 and arrived in Morgantown on June 2, 1958. In the fall of 1959, they moved to First Ward and remained there until the spring of 2021 when her senior journey would force her to leave her home, notably, a home she remodeled with her own hands. Her sunroom and porch, bursting with beautiful plants enjoying the benefits of Edith’s green thumb, will always be remembered.
While in Morgantown, Edith raised her three children, completed undergraduate studies, her master’s and her Doctorate of Education Administration at WVU. She taught at Fairmont State College, chaired the Morgantown Beautification Commission for 18 years, directed the WVU Hillel student organization, was active in both Sisterhood and Hadassah at the Tree of Life Synagogue, and served as an Assistant Professor of Holocaust Studies at WVU.
Dr. Levy’s greatest accomplishment was spearheading the establishment of the West Virginia Commission on Holocaust Education which Governor Cecil Underwood created on March 4, 1998. From then until the end of her productive years, Dr. Levy crisscrossed the Mountain State organizing both Holocaust Commemorative programs and workshops at which she taught teachers how to grapple with the difficult topics growing out of the Holocaust. She served as the keynote speaker at countless Holocaust Commemorative programs and witnessed her story as a Holocaust survivor to tens-of-thousands of West Virginia school-students of all grades. To support her efforts, she wrote one of the very first textbooks on the Holocaust and prepared an accompanying Teachers Guide.
In January 2002, Governor Wise presented Dr. Levy with the Distinguished West Virginian award. In June of 2003 she received a Commendation for Volunteer Service. In July 2005, Governor Manchin presented Dr. Levy with the Lifetime Achievement Award, a heavy Lucite trophy which she fondly remembered dropping on his foot.
Legislation mandating Holocaust education in West Virginia will soon be introduced in her honor.
Edith is predeceased by both her brothers, Leo and Lucien and by her husband, Marcus. She is survived by her children, David, Laurent, and Ethelinda and by a gaggle of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As she liked to repeat, she defeated Hitler.
Dr. Levy was buried beside her husband at the B’nai Emunah cemetery in Hampton Township, north of Pittsburgh on Monday Nov. 13. Memorial services (shiva) will take place at her son’s residence in West Orange, N.J. A separate memorial service will take place on Sunday, Nov. 19, 1 p.m. at the WVU Erickson Alumni Center. Additional detail available at Laurent.levy58@gmail.com.
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, https://www.wiesenthal.com.
