Maxine Levin, mother, grandmother and life-long volunteer, passed away on June 26, 2014, in Denver. She was 83. Rabbis Steven Foster and Brian Immerman officiated, and Cantors Regina Heit and Elizabeth Sacks lent their beautiful voices at funeral services held at Temple Emanuel and Mt. Nebo Cemetery. Funeral arrangements were made by Feldman Mortuary.
Among her many volunteer activities, Mrs. Levin was devoted to the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) where she had been president of its Denver Section and a national board member.
She was proud of the fact that in her role with NCJW, Mrs. Levin had been asked to be the first woman to speak from the bimah at the BMH synagogue, where she had grown up, her father had been president and she was then a member.
At her funeral service, Rabbi Foster recounted that on numerous trips he and his wife Joyce had taken around the world, they met women who, upon learning they were from Denver, asked if they knew Maxine Levin as a result of her work with NCJW.
Three of Mrs. Levins six grandchildren, Reid, Rachel and Jordan Levin, delivered loving comments about their grandmother, with Jordan having traveled from his home in Jerusalem to be with family.
Reid noted that both he and his grandmother had been sick for many years, but she had an unusual drive that kept her going to the theater, opera, mahjong, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) classes and out to dinner with family and friends despite her illnesses.
Two of her children, Dan and Scott, also spoke, with Scott talking about how she paved the way for his community service as regional director of the Anti-Defamation League and Dan noting how she had schooled him with her knowledge of micro-economics and world affairs that she had learned at OLLI.
Maxine Levin was born in Denver in 1931 and moved with her parents Herman and Evelyn Shore and brother Jerry to Denvers East Side when she was six. After graduating from East High School, Mrs. Levin attended the University of Colorado where she met her husband, Mel Levin, who predeceased her in 1998.
Not long before her death, her son Dan asked if there was anything in life she had regretted. She told him that she would not have changed any major decisions in her life. Mrs. Levin basked in the love and support of family and a large circle of friends.
Mrs. Levin is survived by her children Neal, Dan (Kadra Knudeson), Scott (Laure) and Cindy Levin; grandchildren Reid, Rachel, Rebecca, Jordan, Gabe and Miles.
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