Phillip A. Levitz ’59

Phil Levitz died Jan. 21, 2016, in Coral Gables, Fla., after a brief illness.

Born in Lebanon, Pa., Phil attended the Peddie School prior to entering Princeton, where he joined Dial Lodge. He withdrew in the fall of our junior year to enter Uncle Sam’s Army. The Army Language School spent nine months teaching him Russian, then sent him to “the boondocks of Japan” for two years. His obituary indicates that he also attended the Wharton School.

Following military service, he married Margaret Tate in 1964. He joined the family business, Levitz Furniture Co., a firm that expanded nationwide and was listed on the NYSE until overtaken by the 1972 recession, when it was sold and taken private. Phil took a brief sabbatical in Florida pondering opportunities, then moved to Phoenix in 1993 and co-founded RoomStores of Arizona, a successful competitor of his now-eponymic rival.

Phil and Margaret had two children: a son, Alan, who was instrumental in the establishment of RoomStores; and a daughter, Wendy. Margaret predeceased him in 2000, and Phil retired to Coral Gables, where he later married Angelica Gustafson.

The class extends its sympathy to Angelica; Alan and Wendy; Phil’s stepdaughter, Marisa; and his five grandchildren.