Newspaper Page Text
The Champion, Thursday, January 7-13, 2016
LOCAL
Page 15A
Husband of former county CEO dies
Former business owner Phil Levetan and wife Liane, a former DeKalb County CEO, attend a 2009 event. Phil
Levetan passed away Jan. 3 at age 91.
Simon Phillip “Phil” Le
vetan, husband of a former
DeKalb County CEO, died
Sunday, Jan. 3, at age 91.
Levetan, who was mar
ried to Liane Levetan for 61
years, was co-owner of Dixie
Iron and Metal Company, his
family’s scrap metal business.
He continued with the busi
ness for many years when it
was sold to a recycling com
pany.
“DeKalb County mourns
the loss of Phil Levetan, a
steadfast pillar of our com
munity who quietly dedi
cated his life to making our
community a better place,”
said interim DeKalb County
CEO Lee May in a statement.
“Our thoughts and prayers
are with the Levetan family
and loved ones during this
time.”
In an online guestbook,
DeKalb County Superior
Court Judge Gregory A.
Adams said Levetan “was a
wonderful person who will
be missed by the entire com
munity.”
Levetan was born on
April 12, 1924, to Joseph and
Rebecca Boss Levetan at
Georgia Baptist Hospital.
A native Atlantan, Le
vetan graduated from Boys
High School and received
his bachelors and mas
ter’s degrees from Atlanta
Law School. He served in
the Army Air Corps dur
ing World War II where he
maintained the electrical and
mechanical systems of B29
airplanes in Saipan.
A lifetime member of
Ahavath Achim Synagogue
and member of Congrega
tion Beth Jacob, Levetan
enjoyed coordinating the
weeldy lunch-and-learn ses
sions for Chabad with Rabbi
Yossi New for more than 25
years.
Additionally, Levetan
was a member of the Jewish
War Veterans of the United
States of America and a life
member of the Elks 78 orga
nization.
In addition to his wife,
Levetan is survived by his
two daughters, Claresa Le
vetan and Penny Levetan
Reiff of Philadelphia; four
grandchildren: Alison and
Julie Reiff, and Nathan and
Rachel Hochberger, all of
Philadelphia, Pa.; brother,
Robert Levetan; sister-in-
law Gail Raab and numerous
nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers memo
rial donations may be made
to the charity of one’s choice.
A graveside service was
held Monday, Jan. 4, at Crest
Lawn Memorial Park in
Atlanta and funeral arrange
ments by Dressler’s Jewish
Funeral Care.
LITHONIA
Continued From Page 1A
BROOKHAVEN
Continued From Page 1A
“I am very humbled by the fact that I have an
other opportunity to continue to serve as your mayor
of this wonderful city,” she said. “It’s really amazing
that four years have already gone by. But when I look
at what has been happening we’ve been getting a lot
of things done.”
Jackson gave a state of the city address following
the swearing in ceremony and mentioned the goals
that were accomplished during the past four years.
Those goals included forming new partnerships, im
provements to the Lithonia Plaza, improvements to
amphitheater and the opening of new businesses.
“The state of the city of Lithonia is very good,”
she said. “I invite you to join us on this very exciting
journey.”
Jackson said she wants to improve youth devel
opment and training and establish a farmer’s market.
She said she plans to focus on following up with the
developer regarding the Lithonia Plaza.
Wendover Housing Partners is set to develop a
$12 million apartment complex that will include 75
units consisting of 24 one-bedroom, 45 two-bed
room and six three-bedroom apartments.
“We want to get a good sense of what the time
line is, to be able to find out what the job opportuni
ties are. We want to get our people prepared so they
will be able to benefit from the progress that’s taking
place,” Jackson said.
Jackson also mentioned the questions and specu
lation around annexation and whether the city will
ever annex.
“The short answer is ‘yes,’” Jackson said. “How
ever, we want to do it in a manner that makes sense
for everyone involved and creates a win-win situa
tion. Right now it’s very difficult to have a meaning
ful conversation about that issue. So in the meantime
we will continue to strengthen our infrastructure and
build on our existing assets.”
about the basics—trying to make sure our
paving and watershed are all right before we
can even move on to bigger and better things,
including the Brookhaven Beltline,” he said.
“We need to unify this city. We had a rough go
at it at the very beginning and it’s time to unify
us and that’s probably the biggest challenge.
Once I get that everything is possible.”
Ernst said he plans to unify the city by do
ing outreach and more listening.
Councilmembers Linley Jones (District
1) and Bates Mattison (District 3) were also
sworn in into their perspective seats. Jones
was initially appointed to fill the District 1
council seat, which was previously held by
Williams, in June.
This is Mattison’s second term as council
member.
Wishing you happiness in the new year with the
hope that you will have many blessings in the
year to come.
Happy New Year