Phyllis Levine, 85, of Atlanta
Phyllis Levine, 85, of Atlanta, after a year-long fight with pancreatic cancer and congestive heart failure, died peacefully at Hospice Atlanta on Sat., June 29, 2013.
Phyllis was born on July 13, 1927 in Cleveland, Ohio to U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Abraham M. Rosenberg and Minnie Stashower Rosenberg. Phyllis grew up in Cleveland Heights and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1948. She subsequently obtained a master’s degree in psychology from Case Western University.
She married Max Levine of Nashville, Tenn. in 1953. Phyllis worked as a social worker at Jewish Family Services in Cleveland until her first son, James, was born in 1956. Her second son, William, was born in 1959. After Max’s employer was acquired by Hercules, Inc., the family was transferred to Covington, Va. in 1961.
Phyllis helped start the first mental health clinic in Covington and worked part-time there as a social worker. In 1967, Max was transferred to Raleigh, N.C., where he headed one of the first research laboratories to be located at the nearby Research Triangle Park. While in Raleigh, Phyllis was employed as a counselor for married students at NC State University.
Max was transferred to Wilmington, Del. in 1974, and then to Atlanta in 1978. For more than 15 years, Phyllis was employed as a social worker at Jewish Family Services in Atlanta.
Phyllis and Max were early members of Temple Emanu-El in Dunwoody, where Phyllis served as a vice president and as a member of the choir. Music was always very important to Phyllis – she was an accomplished pianist as a child, a choir member at her temple and an avid Atlanta Symphony attendee.
Until a year ago, Phyllis was walking two miles or swimming a mile every day, and she had a very active social life with numerous friends and family members. She will be missed by everyone who knew her.
She is predeceased by her parents; her beloved husband, Max; and her brother, Richard Rosenberg. Phyllis is survived by her sons, James (Elaine) of Atlanta and William (Barbara Simmons) of Wilmington; her grandchildren, Olivia (fiancé William Arnold) of New York, Eleanor of Atlanta and St. Louis, Mo. and Theodore of Atlanta and Cambridge, Mass.; her sister-in-law, Susan Rosenberg of Haifa, Israel; and numerous close nieces, nephews and cousins.
An online guestbook is available at edressler.com. Contributions may be made to Temple Emanu-El, 1580 Spalding Dr., Atlanta, GA 30350, templeemanuelatlanta.org; or Jewish Family & Career Services of Atlanta, Inc., 4549 Chamblee Dunwoody Rd., Atlanta, GA 30338, jfcs-atlanta.org. Graveside services will be 11 a.m. on Tues., July 2 at Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs with Rabbi Joseph Prass officiating. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care.
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