Rash's Surname Index
Notes for John Preston Jr. LEVIS
John Preston Levis, Jr., 71, a graduate of Ottawa Hills High School who, after a business career, retired to Virginia and dedicated his time to charitable and community causes, died Nov. 16 in Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, Va.
The family did not disclose the cause of death.
He was the son of Charlotte and J. Preston Levis, a former president and chairman of Owens-Illinois Inc. after whom the Perrysburg commercial and residential development, J. Preston Levis Commons, is named.
Mr. Levis was born in San Francisco, where his father headed an O-I subsidiary. In 1938, the family moved to Toledo and his father became general manager of O-I, created in 1929 through a merger arranged by the elder Mr. Levis' cousin William.
He grew up in Ottawa Hills, attended the Westminster School in Simsbury, Conn., and played football at Ottawa Hills High. Movie-star handsome, he was a popular student, said John R. Williams, a football teammate.
"He was just the most pleasant person that you can imagine," Mr. Williams said. "Everybody liked him so much."
Mr. Levis attended Denison University, Granville, Ohio. In his freshman year he went big-game hunting in East Africa with his parents and bagged a bull elephant, a black-maned lion, a rhinoceros, a leopard, two types of antelope, and an impala.
He was an Army veteran and worked in sales at the H.J. Heinz Co. and at Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. in Pittsburgh, his sister Annette Boice said.
Mr. Levis moved to Middleburg, Va., in 1985 and became a director of a community center, a private school, a child-care center, and of a foundation that provides low-income housing.
"If there was a need, he was there," said Helen Wiley, a longtime friend. "He was smart. You could talk to him about anything. He really listened."
He formed the J. Preston Levis Charitable Foundation in memory of his parents. While his parents were alive, he returned to his hometown for regular visits. His father died April 17, 1973. His mother died Jan. 16, 2001.
"We were real buddies growing up," his sister Annette said. "He got married, I got married, and we went in different directions, but he was still my baby brother."
He was formerly married to Susan Bryson and Lucy Rietze.
Surviving are his daughter, Margot Levis Thompson; son, John P. Levis III; sisters, Harriet L. McFarlane and Annette L. Boice, and five grandchildren.
Services were held in Trinity Episcopal Church, Upperville, Va., of which he was a member.
The family suggests tributes to the John P. Levis, Jr., fund for students at the Hill School, Middleburg, Va., or a charity of the donor's choice.
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