Sidney Levin, a writer and real estate investor who revived the historic Buckhorn Exchange steakhouse, passed away Jan. 17, 2016, in Denver. He was 88. Rabbi Bruce Dollin and Cantor Martin Goldstein officiated at the Jan. 19 service at the HEA.
Interment followed at Emanuel Cemetery. Feldman Mortuary made the arrangements.
Mr. Levin wrote for The Davenport (Iowa) Daily Times before moving to Denver in 1953. He became editor of the Western edition of TV Guide, building it into a major publication that mirrored the explosive growth of TV in Colorado.
After Walter Annenburg purchased TV Guide, Mr. Levin went into real estate.
With his partners Roi Davis, Marvin Naiman and Colorado ski pioneer Steve Knowlton, he acquired the Buckhorn Exchange, Denvers oldest restaurant, founded in 1893.
The Buckhorn, which in its earliest days was a bar, restaurant, paycheck exchange and house of ill repute located a mile southwest of Larimer St., thrived under the partners renewal efforts.
Highlighting historical memorabilia, the establishment also displayed numerous photographs of such famous patrons as Buffalo Bill and President Teddy Roosevelt.
By the 1990s, its buffalo steaks and other exotic game fare had drawn an international clientele. Levin even printed a menu in Japanese.
Mr. Levin and his partners then acquired the historic Carnegie Library in downtown Littleton and launched the Kandahar, a ski-themed restaurant celebrating Colorados Tenth Mountain Division, in 1986.
The library, now leased as the Melting Pot Restaurant, is still under the partnerships ownership.
Mr. Levin remained active in commercial real estate and was involved in the preservation of buildings along the 16th Mall, including the Symes and University buildings on Champa St.
Sid Levin was born April 11, 1927, in Kansas City, Kan., and spent his early years in Minneapolis.
In 1945 he served in the US Army, one of 35,000 American Jews to serve under arms during the war against Nazi Germany.
Following the army, he attended the University of Minnesota and earned a journalism degree.
He was married to Renae Levin for nearly 65 years until his passing.
In 2005, a giant dump truck jumped from a freeway overpass during the construction of the T-Rex project and crushed Mr. Levins car on the road below. Given only a slim chance of survival, he spent nine weeks in Swedish Medical Centers trauma unit and endured months of rehabilitation.
Following his recuperation, he authored the novel, The Rest is Silence, about two brothers growing up in a poor Jewish neighborhood in Minneapolis near the outbreak of WW II.
Mr. Levin is survived by his wife of 64 years Renae Dechter Levin; son Bradley A. (Patti Jo Robinson) Levin, daughter Beth (Mark) Samuelson, son Ted (Jenifer Crolius) Levin and daughter Laure (Gary Rand) Levin; brother Irving Levin of Minneapolis; and nine grandchildren.
Copyright © 2016 by the Intermountain Jewish News
