Leon Yale Levin

Leon Yale Levin died on Saturday, December 19, in Jacksonville, Florida, when his huge heart gave out unexpectedly. A true and generous soul, Leo will be remembered as a lover of life, a “doctor” of tennis, a jokester and raconteur, and the ultimate friend and teammate.

Leo was born on November 16, 1958, in Richmond, Virginia, the second child of Samuel Meyer Levin and Marilyn Levin (nee Fishbach). After several moves during his childhood, Leo’s family settled in Davis, California, in 1972. Leo was an accomplished athlete. Although never fleet of foot, Leo more than made up for it with great hands: big, soft, and gifted. As a teen, Leo could golf a low score (under par at the local muni) or bowl a high one (several perfect 300 games). He loved all sports. Thirty years after leaving California, Leo remained an avid Raiders and Warriors fan. But Leo’s real love was tennis. He was an excellent junior player, ranked in Northern California, and an important member of Foothill College’s California State Championship teams of 1980 and 1981.

In 1982, Leo hung up his sneakers to embark on his life’s work: harnessing new data to shape the way tennis is played, watched, and discussed. He was employee #1 at CompuTennis, a Palo Alto, California, startup developing a quantitative tennis coaching tool, driven by shot-by-shot data collected on a programmable electronic keyboard. To help fund the company while marketing to college teams and tour players, Leo used the tool to do stats for tennis broadcasts. By the mid-1980s, Leo was a fixture in the TV booth at major tennis events, and his role expanded when he joined IDS in Jacksonville in 1988, also as employee #1. Over the years, Leo visited countless ATP Tour stops and shared a TV booth with Cliff Drysdale, Fred Stolle, Dick Enberg, Bud Collins, Tony Trabert, John McEnroe, Chris Evert, Mary Carillo, Patrick McEnroe, Ted Robinson, and many others. By the time he cut back on travel, Leo had worked onsite at more than 120 tennis majors, knew everyone associated with the tour – players, coaches, commentators, writers, producers, and executives – and was universally liked and respected. When a TV commentator referred to Leo on air as a “doctor of tennis,” Leo said his mom was finally happy because she’d always wanted him to be a doctor.

All along the way, Leo was at the forefront of developing the tools and language we use today to talk about and understand tennis: forced and unforced errors, serve speed, win percentages, situational stats, rally counts, etc. He had a hunger for new data sources and creativity in using them. He also combined his enormous knowledge and experience with a gift for concise and insightful analysis. Having made many broadcasters look smart, TV networks, coaches, and players alike sought him out for his wisdom. Leo had an endless supply of tennis insight and insider stories. For anyone who loves tennis, a conversation with Leo was a gourmet meal, sometimes eye-opening and always delicious.

Leo lived life with enthusiasm and humor that was infectious. What he loved, he loved with gusto. And he wanted to share his affections. Whether it was his favorite foods, SMT products, the Raiders, or his friends, Leo was the ultimate salesman, singing their praises, persuasive because he truly believed in the product. His biggest loves were his daughter Anna, of whom he was beyond proud, and his wife, Terri Coleman. Although Leo and Terri met late in life – they were married in October 2017 – she was truly the love of his life and brought him real happiness.

Always with Leo, there were jokes. Some silly, some very clever. One-liners honed over the years. Who can forget the SeeFood Diet? Or how “I thought it was the least I could do…so I did it”? Or how “on a scale of one to ten, I’m a Levin”? And the brownies! Leo claimed he was a fifth-generation brownie baker, and he raised the family recipe to an art form. He would take literally dozens of batches on his travels around the globe, giving them to friends, co-workers, event staff, and lucky passersby.

But the real reason Leo was beloved by so many was his generous heart and true blue character. Leo lived the Golden Rule: He treated everyone with kindness and respect, and would do anything for his family and friends. There was no better teammate or more loyal friend than Leo Levin. Leo’s generosity of spirit was not always beneficial as a life strategy. He never spent a minute, for example, thinking about how to get credit for his groundbreaking work. Leo was always team first. But Leo just could not do it any other way, and we all loved him for it.

They say that a man’s heart is the size of his fist. Leo had huge hands, but his heart was bigger still. The world is darker with Leo no longer in it. But the world is better for his having been here, and those of us lucky enough to have known and loved him have truly been blessed.

Leo is survived by his wife, Terri Coleman; his daughter, Anna; his mother, Marilyn Wellsandt; his sister, Maureen Julin, her husband, Doug, and their son, Jeremy.

Services will be held Thursday, December 24, at 10:30 a.m. at New Center Memorial Park Cemetery, 43rd Street and Liberty Street, Jacksonville, Florida.

In lieu of flowers, we ask for donations in Leo’s name to the Malivai Washington Youth Foundation (malwashington.com) or the American Heart Association (heart.org).