Lionel M. Levey peacefully passed away at his home in Short Hills, NJ on May 20, 2019. Predeceased by his first wife, Selma, Lionel is survived by his wife Sande Levey of Short Hills, NJ, his daughters Gina Mandelbaum (Kenneth) of Short Hills, NJ and Jeanne Jemal (Samuel) of New York, NY, his sister Carol Greene, granddaughter Ilana Sterling (Keith), grandsons David Mandelbaum (Jessica), Simon Jemal, William Jemal, Jack Jemal and 2 great granddaughters, Lake and Sophie.
Lionel Levey, born in 1921 in Newark, New Jersey, had achieved enviable levels of success, both professional and personal. He graduated from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After serving with distinction as a Marine in the Pacific Theater during WWII, Mr. Levey went on to become a legend in the retail shoe industry. In 1950 he founded Shoe-Town, a chain that grew to hundreds of stores and became a publicly traded stock. With Shoe-Town, Mr. Levey invented a new business model that has since become the norm. In addition to his business acumen, Mr. Levey’s professional success was a result of his winning personality. He was engaging, kind, tremendously funny and memorable.
Lionel was not only a renowned businessman and an extraordinarily generous philanthropist but most importantly, he was a mentor and a wonderful husband and father, as well as a deeply loving grandfather and great grandfather. He will be forever loved by our family, and countless friends.
A funeral service will be held on Wednesday at 10:30AM at Temple B’nai Abraham, 300 East Northfield Road, Livingston.
Memorial donations may be made in his name to St. Barnabas Medical Center, C/O Center for Geriatric Health and Disease Management, 95 Old Short Hills Road, West Orange, NJ 07052.
