Sidney Levine

Oneonta – Sidney (Sid) Levine of 8 Roosevelt Avenue passed away peacefully Sunday morning at his home, surrounded by family. Sid was born May 6, 1913 in Utica, one of 4 children of Ike and Rose Levine.

Sid married Elizabeth Muriel (Smitty) Levine in 1943 and they were blessed with 66 years together, until her death in 2009. Sid came to Oneonta in 1932 to manage the Palace Theatres. He joined the Oneonta Ford Sales Company in 1934, which became the Oneonta Sales Company in 1975, where he worked as General Manager and then President until his retirement in 1997 at the age of 84. He was a Master Sargent in the U.S. Army Air Force, serving as a bombardier stationed in Scotland during World War II.

Sid worked tirelessly for many of Oneonta’s charitable and civic organizations as Chairman of the Fox Hospital Foundation, President of the Jessie Dewar Fund, a founder and Chairman of the Future of Oneonta Foundation, President of the Oneonta Chamber of Commerce, as well as for the Salvation Army Building Fund, the YMCA Building Program, and the City of Oneonta Safety Board.

In recognition of his extensive community service, he received numerous accolades, including a Distinguished Service Award from the Otsego County Chamber of Commerce, The Silver Beaver Distinguished Service for Youth from the Boy Scouts of America, Outstanding Citizen Award by Hartwick College and Master of the Good Name by Temple Beth El, where he was a founding member. He also received a special citation as a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks for more than 75 years and was a Freemason. Sid and Smitty were named Mr. and Mrs. Oneonta by the Future of Oneonta Foundation in 2001, and the AO Fox Emergency Room was dedicated to them in 2006 in addition to the Sidney Levine Conference Room at Fox.

In 1966 Sid and his closest friend Albert (Sam) Nader, partnered with a number of other investors to form the Oneonta Athletic Corporation to retain minor league baseball in Oneonta. Together, they managed the organization’s New York Yankees and later its Detroit Tigers franchises until the team’s sale in 2008. Sid was also an avid golfer and was honored with a lifelong membership at the Oneonta Country Club where he played well into his nineties.

In addition to his wife, Smitty, Sid was predeceased by his eldest son Harrison and his wife Sherry, son-in-law Dr. Larry Rubin, brother Gerald Levine, sister Marilyn Oretskin and his nephew Tom Smith, who Sid and Smitty raised.

He is survived by his sister Delores and her husband Lenny Spitzer of Sacramento; his children and their families, Gary Levine and MaryAnne Sinville of Boston, Cherilyn (Levine) Rubin of Albany, and Ed Levine and Marti Jenkins of Boise; his grandchildren, Erin Farris of Rock Hill, SC, Sara Massie of Daytona, FL, Joe Levine of Dublin, VA, Toby and Rhea Rubin of Albany, Andrew Reardon, of Holbrook, MA, MaryAnne Levine and her mother Constance Levine of Concord, MA; and Tom’s daughters Stacy and Kori Smith of Long Beach, CA.

Services will be held Thursday, September 27 at 11 AM at Temple Beth El, 83 Chestnut Street with burial immediately following at Temple Beth El Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that Memorial donations be made to the AO Fox Hospital Foundation.