May 21, 1924 – August 15, 2020
We honor the remarkable life of Claire Levi, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, wife, educator, fine arts docent, synagogue leader, Navy veteran, and beloved friend, Mom, and Granny.
Please join us in remembering…
This website is intended to allow all who knew Claire to remember her by sharing words and pictures from and about her life. We invite you to share your thoughts and memories: send an e-mail to
memorial@clairelevi.jimlevi.com
We’ll post your words about Claire. If you wish, you can identify yourself. To see others’ words, go to the Memories page on this site; photos from our family and others can be found in the Images page. This site will be curated and maintained into 2021: a woman who lived 96 years should be remembered in the fullness she lived.
A note from Claire’s children, Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell, Amy Levi and Jim Levi:
It is with a full and heavy heart that we mourn the passing of our mother, Claire Levi. She passed away peacefully at home on Shabbat Re’eh, August 15, 2020, 25 Av 5780. Claire was 96 years old.
A master teacher, docent, and life-long synagogue member, Claire was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. She matriculated at William Smith College but interrupted her education to serve in World War II as a trainer of pilots at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla. After the war she married Charles J. Levi in Buffalo in 1946 and together they raised five children. When her two eldest had entered college, Claire returned to school to complete her education at Buffalo State University, where she earned a Master’s Degree.
Claire then began a career as an educator, first as a classroom teacher and later as the director of the Teachers’ Resource Center in Buffalo. After retirement she moved to Philadelphia with her husband in 1995, where she served as a docent at the Barnes Foundation and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She also volunteered at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and as a Jewish adult educator.
Our mother was animated by her passions, which included fine art, music, language, education, Judaism, nature, stories, chocolate and much more (including much more chocolate.) Her greatest joys came from her family. Claire is survived by three children, ten grandchildren and four (soon five) great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband of 66 years, Charles J. Levi, in 2012, by her son John S. Levi in 1987, and by her daughter Elizabeth C. Levi in 2018.
Claire took great pride in supporting public radio and television and the Eastern Pennsylvania food banks Manna and Philabundance. You are invited to honor her memory by supporting one of the charities close to her heart or yours.
Music was an integral part of Claire’s life. She loved to play songs and sang in many choirs. Below are some of her favorite melodies for you to enjoy.