Marion Cecelia Levy, 93

Cranston, R.I. – Marion Cecelia Levy died on Aug. 14 in San Rafael, Calif., where she moved in May. She was the youngest, and last surviving child of the late Morris and Sarah (Grossman) Tolchinsky. She was the wife of Robert R. (Uncle Bob) Levy from 1945 until his death in 1991. Her children, Raymond and Elaine (and husband, Tom McBirnie) live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Before she was a teenager, she became an aunt when her eldest brother, Harry Tolchinsky and his wife Minnie had a son, Stanley. They have all since passed away as have her other siblings and their spouses: Dorothy Shaw, Martin Tolchinsky, Sophie Pedlikin Horovitz, Gertrude Jacobson, and Freida Sperling. 

She was a 1939 graduate of Hope High School in Providence. In addition to raising her family, she was a bookkeeper for many small businesses in the Providence area.  Her husband Bob was in the Army until 1956 and together they traveled widely during his military service and whenever they got a chance after that. She continued to enjoy traveling into her late 80s. She also enjoyed playing Mah Jongg and bridge with her friends, aerobics classes and other activities at the Cranston Senior Center, movies, plays and concerts and gardening. In her later years she developed a passion for the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Celtics.

She was always a gracious hostess and family and friends spent many happy occasions around her table and in her backyard enjoying her homemade goodies. In the 1990s she survived both breast and lung cancer and was able to maintain an active life

She is survived by her children and son-in-law and numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews and their children – on both sides of the family. The only surviving family members of her generation are Bob’s youngest sister, Brenda Levy Hoffman, and her brother Martin’s ex-wife Ruth LaBush Tolchinsky. She was fortunate to have many close friends of her generation, only a few of whom survive her.  Her final hours were eased by the caring staff of Hospice by the Bay.

She supported many charities, especially those that aided veterans or sought cures for diseases. With her husband, she had been a volunteer for Meals on Wheels and for some of the fraternal, religious and veterans organizations in which they were active. A strong advocate of education, she was generous to any of her student-relatives who needed extra money for their studies. She was a long-time member of Hadassah, B’nai B’rith, Hebrew Free Loan and Temple Sinai. The family suggests a memorial donation to your favorite charity.   

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sept. 14 at Shalom Memorial Chapel, 1100 New London Ave., Cranston, followed by a reception at the Radisson Hotel.