Louis Ira Levy MD was born in Augusta, Georgia on February 20th, 1941 to the late Beatrice and Saul Levy. Louis grew up in Augusta with the love from both his mother Beatrice, his father Saul, and his stepfather Ben Kaplan.
He attended Vanderbilt University for both college and medical school. He played football for Vanderbilt during his time there in college, and he remained an avid commodore fan throughout his whole life. He celebrated every Vanderbilt football team win with a Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuit #1 combo. After medical school, he completed his pediatrics residency training at Babies Hospital of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. He then served as the Chief of Pediatrics at the USA Air Force Hospital in Azores, Portugal. After his 3 years of service, he completed fellowship training in Neonatology at Duke University. He then moved to Columbus, Georgia where he started his pediatric practice and Columbus’s first neonatal intensive care unit. He was an advocate for the families and babies of Georgia throughout his career, serving on multiple state boards for maternal and infant health. He helped educate other providers throughout the state of Georgia on how to provide care to premature babies. Louis’s love for his patients was reflected in his work to improve outcomes for babies in Georgia as well as in his personal interactions with every family he cared for.
Outside of his professional work, Louis was a lifelong learner always reading at least 2 books at a time (one for pleasure and one for academics) and attended college courses at Columbus State University after his retirement. He met frequently with his interfaith group to discuss religion as well as served as a mentor and leader in Columbus’s Jewish community. He loved spending time outside enjoying nature around him.
He ultimately believed his proudest accomplishment was his family. Throughout his life, he enjoyed camping and fishing trips with his sons, long family walks with meaningful conversation (extra points if it was in a national park), watching romantic comedies with his daughters, and endless conversations with his wife. Louis is survived by his wife of 34 years, Laura, his five children Saul (Brandi), Jason (Jennifer), Ben (Barbara), Rebecca (Andrew), and Rachel (Grant), seven grandchildren Anne, Matthew, Cullen, Judah, Mabel, Nava, and Arthur, and his sister Terry Liebowitz.
Due to Louis’s passion for social justice and his commitment to providing support for the families of the NICU, please send donations to Southern Poverty Law Center or Ronald McDonald House in lieu of flowers.
