Funeral services for Sylvan Levy, insurance agent, politician and philanthropist, will be held at 11 A. M. today at Union Temple, 17 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn. Mr. Levy died suddenly Monday of a heart attack at his home, 270 West End avenue, Manhattan. He was sixty-four years old.
He was one of the most successful life insurance men in the United States, having sold more than $4,000,000 worth in a single year, and was active in Jewish philanthropies, to which he contributed thousands of dollars.
Born in Alsace, he was a son of the late Moses and Adele Uhry Levy. He came here as a youth and his first venture was in the wholesale feed and grain business. He became president of Levy Brothers.
In 1914 he was United States Commissioner in connection with the commemoration of the signing in 1814 of the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812.
ON INEBRIETY BOARD
Before that for several years he was a member of the New York City Board of Inebriety, which cared for persons habitually intoxicated. He was president of the board for a time.
He was a friend of former Mayor Hylan, of former Police Commissioner Enright and of prominent jurists. In 1913 he was a Presidential elector.
In 1923 he became associated with the New York Life Insurance Company, and at a dinner in his honor received an envelope containing applications for almost $1,000,000 of insurance.
In charitable donations to organized groups and to individuals in need he was always generous. He was a director of the Jewish Hospital of Brooklyn, vice-president of the hospital’s Training School for Nurses and a director of the Brooklyn Federation of Jewish Charities.
Mr. Levy had been a trustee of Temple Beth Elohim, Brooklyn, and president of the Unity Club. He was a member of numerous organizations.
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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.