Funeral services were held here today for Maurice Levin, merchant and philanthropist who died in Miami Beach Sunday at the age of 78. Mr. Levin had been president of the Hearn Department Store, Inc., which he developed from a $4 million enterprise employing 400 persons in 1932 to a $42 million business with 4500 employees when he retired in 1949. Rabbi Arthur Schneier of Park East Synagogue officiated.
Mr. Levin was born in Lowell, Mass., to an immigrant family from Bialystok, Russia, where his father had been a Jewish scholar and philosopher. His formal schooling ended in the elementary grades. When he retired from business, Mr. Levin devoted his life to philanthropy and was also closely identified with the Jewish National Fund, land reclamation arm of the World Zionist Organization. Mr. Levin also helped finance “The Eternal Road” a pageant of Jewish history co-produced by Max Rheinhardt and Meyer Weisgal.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.