Ronald M LeVan

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Ronald “Ron” M. LeVan, at age 89. Dad passed peacefully of natural causes on Friday, April 7, 2023, eight years after we lost Mom, his beloved wife, Diane (Browne) LeVan (d. April 2015). He is survived by their three loving daughters, Debbie (LeVan) Razzolini, Susan (LeVan) Kuhn, and Sandy LeVan; his devoted sister, Janice (Hall); as well as countless in-laws, cousins, nephews, nieces, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Dad is also predeceased by his parents, Maurice “Peck” LeVan and Kathryn (Thomas) LeVan. It is sad losing him, of course, but we are all tremendously grateful that he is no longer feeling pain and missing Mom. That means everything to us.

Dad was originally from Sanborn, New York, and later in life moved with Mom so they could enjoy retirement in The Villages, Florida. After Mom passed, we encouraged Dad to be with family and he set up his final home in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

While at times it seemed that our Dad's life was pretty unremarkable, he actually lived quite nobly. He was born on 1-2-34. That date epitomizes how he fulfilled all the valuable elements of life, and within their appropriate order. He was raised in an apartment above the family business, LeVan's Grocery and Hardware, in Sanborn. As a young child, he once raced across the street to courageously pull a neighbor from her burning home. During his childhood, he was fortunate to have had a couple of horses as pets, and met his best friend Richie Treichler, with whom he stayed close to over all these years!

While a young man, Dad honorably served in the Navy as part of the Seabees until leaving the service to start a family with Mom and pursue his lifelong career in the carpentry trades. He worked at Harrison Radiator for a short time and even did some work on the Robert Moses Power Project until he landed at Johnson Construction in Niagara Falls, New York, where he proudly shared his craft for over 35 years as a skilled carpenter. He also dutifully built two family houses in Sanborn, one was for his parents and the other was the home that we grew up in. And he creatively built our family vacation cabin with reclaimed materials. Over many years there our families made joyful, multi-generational memories of carefree times together by the Independence River in the Western Adirondacks.

After Dad had accumulated enough points with the Carpenters Union, he went about achieving his two biggest retirement dreams: moving to Florida and buying a Lincoln! He and Mom lived in The Villages happily for many years, playing golf and enjoying happy hours on their lanai with friends and family. One of his delights was telling corny carpenter jokes, and his favorite day of the year was Christmas in The Villages when golfing was free. He enjoyed a vacation to Alaska with Mom and later had an Alaskan adventure with some friends. He and Mom also took an exciting Mediterranean cruise to Greece and Turkey.

Some other worthy mentions about Dad: Throughout our childhood years, in addition to his hard work and building our homes, he also maintained our swimming pool, put together our Christmas gifts, and fixed our bike’s flat tires. And he never complained...even at the end. He just quietly went about the business of being a husband and dad, bringing home a paycheck each week, keeping a roof over our heads, food on the table, and love and security around us....and that is exactly what made him a remarkable man after all.

A final thought: Susan was with Dad before he passed, and she planted a seed. She told him that he was golfing at his home in The Villages. That left a smile on his face, and that means everything to us.

A memorial service for our parents will be announced at a later date.

Contact information for the family is listed below.

Debbie Razzolini, 1690 Proudfoot, Victor, ID 83445 ([email protected])

Susan Kuhn, 110 Penn Circle Drive, Altoona, PA 16602 ([email protected])

Sandy LeVan, 1056 Charlotte Ct., Rockaway Beach, OR 97136 ([email protected])