A memorial gathering will be held Friday for Theodore Levitt, aGerman Jewish refugee whose life's journey took him from work on aDayton grade school newspaper to the Harvard Business Review, whichhe edited from 1985 to 1989.
Mr. Levitt, 81, died at his home in Belmont, Mass. on June 28,according to the Short, Williamson & Diamond Funeral Home. The bodywas cremated. The memorial gathering will take place at 4 p.m. Fridayat the Belmont Hill Club in suburban Boston.
Mr. Levitt's father brought his four children to the United Statesin 1935, just ahead of the Nazi Holocaust. They settled in Dayton,where they had relatives, and found housing in East Dayton, wheremany of the city's Jews then lived. Theodore, age 9, was immediatelyenrolled in school to learn English.
At Emerson School, Mr. Levitt and a friend, Erma Fiste (laterBombeck) started a newspaper called the Emerson Owl. Several yearslater, he was working as a sportswriter at the Journal Herald.
As a child, Mr. Levitt had written boldly to Dayton Daily Newssports editor Si Burick, complaining that the newspaper did notadequately cover high school junior basketball. Burick replied, 'Youget us the scores and we'll publish them.'
Following Army service, Mr. Levitt received a bachelor's degreefrom Antioch College in 1949 and, in 1951, his doctorate in economicsfrom Ohio State. He joined the Harvard Business School faculty in1959 and quickly became a celebrated teacher and writer on businesstopics. He would write eight books in business marketing, strategyand other subjects. At the Business Review he was credited withmaking the publication more accessible and good looking, to attractmore readers.
'Our job is to help people learn, rather than teach ideas,' heonce said of his classroom work. He retired from Harvard's activefaculty in 1990.
Survivor include his wife. Joan; four children and sixgrandchildren. The only relative listed as still living in Dayton isa sister, Dorothy Engelhardt.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2222 orbkline@DaytonDailyNews.com.
