Friends, family, former students salute centenarian

| October 1, 2015 | 0 Comments
SEVERAL  GENERATIONS OF well-wishers were on hand to wish Jack Levin a happy 100th birthday.

SEVERAL GENERATIONS OF well-wishers were on hand to wish Jack Levin a happy 100th birthday.

“Life has been good to me,” said Jack Levin as he reflected on the 100 years he recently celebrated at a party at his home with 140 friends and relative and neighbors.

Nephews, nieces, grand nephews and nieces, neighbors, friends and eight visitors from Japan joined in the festivities to mark the milestone birthday.

Levin is a Los Angeles native and has lived in Hancock Park for almost 40 years. He is pleased to see a change in neighbors on his Las Palmas street. “There are more young families, and I see baby buggies being strolled down the street,” he remarked.

He studied as an interior designer and purchased Ellison Interiors in 1946, embarking on a career which would last well into his 90s.

An ardent traveler, Jack visits the far east every year, and attends graduations of his design students in Tokyo. He has served as principal of the Branson School of Design in San Francisco for three weeks every month. Many of the students at school were from Japan.

Mementoes from his many trips decorate Jack’s home—statues, lamps, shawls and other souvenirs. Design trends have changed dramatically since he first opened his shop—no more wall-to-wall shag rugs or wallpaper in every room, he comments.

He isn’t sure about the recipe for a long life. “I must have good genes,” he says. His sister, who died earlier this year, lived to 101.

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Category: People

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