Lawrence “Larry” Howard Levy passed away peacefully on Aug. 13, 2022, at Saint Luke's Hospice House in Kansas City, Missouri.
Larry is survived by his wife, Marti, of 52 and a half years; his son, Mark Levy (Angela); his granddaughters, Brena Levy and Erika Levy; his sister, Millicent Levy Evans; numerous nieces/nephews and great-nieces/nephews. Larry was close to his three Kansas City nieces, Amy Gordon Deutsch, Jill Gordon, and Jane Gordon Mazur. Larry was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph Sidney and Charlotte Serkes Levy.
Larry attended and graduated from Southwest High School in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1962. After graduation, Larry spent his freshman year at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. During his freshman year, Larry was more interested in obtaining a pilot's license than going to class. After his freshman year, Larry moved back to Kansas City and went to University of Missouri-Kansas City. Larry continued his flying lessons and eventually earned his pilot’s license with a multi-engine certification.
Throughout his career, Larry owned his own travel business and then went on to sell kitchen cabinets. Ultimately, Larry had a very successful career as a general contractor building upper bracket homes, small office buildings, low-income housing, and doing extensive remodeling of homes and tenant finishes.
Larry had a unique sense of style and design. He won several awards over the years not only for his distinctive homes but for the lighting of the homes. Larry was instrumental in designing and decorating the homes he built. Larry always took immense pride in his work, often hand-drawing many of his plans before submitting them to an architect.
One of the most important things to Larry was his family. Without fail, every Sunday night, Larry and Marti would have their son, daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters over for a home-cooked meal he had prepared. Larry loved to travel with his wife, exploring parts of Europe, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and other parts of North America. Larry always enjoyed taking his granddaughters to unique and new restaurants to expand their taste palate. Larry had immense pride and joy for his granddaughters and their amazing accomplishments. On the weekends, you could often find Larry on his son’s patio with a glass of aged rum being entertained by the family dogs.
Some of Larry's other passions were enjoying a glass of aged rum on the rocks with a lime twist; sailing with his roommate from the U of A on the East Coast; homemade hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows in the morning (Larry refused to drink coffee because he said it made his hair fall out); taking long walks in his neighborhood; curing/brining/canning green olives shipped to him from his friend's olive trees in California and sharing the jars with friends at the holidays; and growing his own tomatoes and herbs.
Larry was a charter member of the Kansas City chapter of the Chaine des Rotisseur and served as an officer for several years. Larry was on the City of Prairie Village Planning Commission, the Johnson County Kansas Contractor Licensing Board, the Design Review Committee of his homes’ association and a member of the Kansas Building Industry Association.
Larry's family wants to thank his many friends and family members who came to visit Larry during his time in the hospital and at hospice house. The family is also immensely grateful for the staff members at Saint Luke's Hospital on the Plaza and Saint Luke's Hospice House for the care, kindness and concern they gave to Larry. Their professionalism and dedication are second to none.
Larry leaves behind many friends and family members who will miss his antics, stories, humor, good food and generous heart.
No service is planned, but a celebration of Larry's life will be held at a future date.
The family requests no flowers or plants and asks that donations in Larry's memory be given to a charity of your choice or to the following:
Alzheimer's Association (www.alz.org) or send to Alzheimer's Association, 3846 West 75th Street, #4126, Prairie Village, KS 66208.
Saint Luke's Hospice House https://saintlukesgiving.givevirtuous.org/Donate (please designate donations to St. Luke's Hospice House under "Other Gift Designation") or send to Saint Luke's Foundation, 901 East 104th Street, #100, Kansas City, MO 64131.
