By Scott Brinton
Family members and friends said Joy Levy's unending support for her husband helped catapult him from the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, where he headed the rackets bureau, to the state Senate in 1970.
Joy Levy, a longtime Merrick resident, died March 4 of respiratory failure at Long Beach Medical Center after suffering two strokes over the past 12 years. She was 65.
A number of elected leaders attended Levy-s funeral services, including state Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr., who succeeded Norman Levy in 1998, Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean Skelos, Assemblyman David McDonough, Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg and Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kathleen Murray, as well as former County Executive Thomas Gulotta and former Long Island Power Authority Chairman Richard Kessel, a longtime family friend of the Levys-.
Norman Levy, a popular Republican state senator, was an outspoken advocate of traffic safety laws and education. As a member of the 18th Senate District, which covers Long Island areas that include Baldwin, Norman Levy was instrumental in getting a mandatory seat belt law passed in New York, the first in the United States. Fittingly, Lakeside Elementary School in Merrick, near the Levys' home, was renamed Levy-Lakeside Elementary in his honor, and a section of the Meadowbrook Parkway was renamed the Sen. Norman J. Levy Memorial Parkway.
Rabbi Charles Klein, spiritual leader of the Merrick Jewish Centre, led Joy Levy's funeral service. Klein, who came to know the Levys well over the years, said, "The hearts of all of us in this room are heavy with grief. Let us remember the joy, the accomplishment, the spirit that was our dear Joy Levy. She was so beautiful. She was so beautiful."
Those closest to Levy, including Klein, noted that what was most important to her was her marriage, which many described as a classic love story. The Levys met when both were on vacation in Miami in 1966. They were engaged within a month, wed the following year and were married for more than 30 years, until Norman Levy's death in 1998.
Family members and friends noted that Levy was a humanitarian at heart. Her best friend, Darryl Lapp of Merrick, said she would regularly read through newspapers, looking for people in need of food or heating oil, and either send donations or arrange for donations to be sent anonymously.
"Joy was more than just my best friend ... She was my heart ... It was the anonymous, random acts of kindness that gave her the greatest pleasure," Lapp said.
In good times and bad, Levy kept a smile on her face, said her sister-in-law, Linda Saslow. "My sister-in-law was the most positive person in the world," Saslow said.
Weisenberg said, "Beauty did not define this young lady. Her beauty was more than what you saw on the outside. Joy had such warmth and beauty. And she was the best Republican you could meet in the world."
Fuschillo, whose late father was a Town of North Hempstead councilman, said, "As a kid growing up, I would always see the Levys at all the events. Joy was a real class act, and Norman was a true gentleman. It was a perfect match.
"I remember when I first got elected," Fuschillo continued, "Joy was very helpful to me, introducing me to people, the issues that Norman was passionate about. It just gave me a great head start."
Klein said Levy "involved people in her whole life, her whole orbit, in getting things done."
Levy is survived by her mother, Lillian Saslow, and brother, Jerry Saslow, of Long Beach; and a niece, a nephew and a grandniece. Burial was at Mount Ararat Cemetery in Farmingdale. The family asked that donations be made to the Stephanie Joyce Kahn Foundation, a charity Levy supported, or to the intensive care unit of Long Beach Medical Center.
Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
