Arley Wilburn Levitt

Arley Wilburn Levitt was born February 20, 1933, to George M. Levitt and Gladys Thigpen Levitt in Palestine, AR. His father was killed in World War II when Arley was only 11. He, his brothers, and sister grew up in Palestine and he graduated from nearby Wheatley High School. After graduation, he moved to Paducah, Kentucky where he obtained CIA clearance to work on construction of a nuclear enrichment plant. He volunteered for the Air Force (because his daddy told him, “Whatever you do, don’t go in the Army”. He requested an overseas assignment in Japan during the Korean Conflict so he could see the world. He liked efficiency. Upon discharge, he attended one semester at Arkansas State College in Jonesboro, AR. He also began dating Eunice Holub around this time. When school was out for the summer, he went to California to work with his uncle in construction. He realized there were many opportunities for jobs in California, so he worked all summer, saved his money and at the end of summer, drove back to Arkansas to propose to Eunice. She said yes and he said, “You’ve got three days”. She packed her bags, they married on August 26, 1957, and spent their honeymoon driving back to LA. They lived in California for ten years and it’s where their daughters, Patricia Arlene and Pamela Rene were born. When they moved back east, they lived in West Memphis, AR, Scooba, MS, they finally settled in Memphis. Arley worked as a machinist for Midland Manufacturing in Scooba then American Machine Works in Memphis, retiring from American Machine Works in 1998 after 28 years there. In Memphis, Arley was a faithful member of Kimball Ave. Church of Christ, then Quince Rd. Church of Christ, and finally Quail Ridge Church of Christ. He served first as a deacon and later as an elder at Quince Rd., where he was admired for his careful, deliberate consideration of scripture before offering opinions. In his free time, Arley was fascinated with how things work. He could fix anything if you let him ponder it. He loved to share his knowledge, but he was always humble, even when it was clear that he knew way more than you. His idea of story time was to read a topic in the Encyclopedia Britannica to his grandchildren. His interest in sunspots even inspired a research paper on the subject by a friend of his daughter that he insisted on reading after the grade was given. He liked a bowl of ice cream every night before bed, but never suffered the consequence of having to buy bigger pants. He passed away at 6:30 am on Sunday morning, April 2, 2023, of complications from bladder cancer. He had been diagnosed only two weeks before. He was preceded in death by his parents, George and Gladys Levitt, Eunice (his wife of 62 years), his brothers James and Wayne, and his sister Darlene. He leaves behind two daughters, Arlene Favazza (Tim) and Pam Sanders, as well as five grandchildren: Alex Favazza, Jr. (Melanie), Amanda Stidham (David), Bri Hickmon (Jordan), and Carley Smith. He also had five great-grandchildren: Alex T. Favazza III (Tripp) and Eleanor Favazza, Enzo Stidham and Giada Stidham, and Arlie Hickmon. Arlene promises to take over the reading of the encyclopedia to the great-grandchildren. He also leaves behind the many family members that perused his poster board genealogy, ate at his favorite restaurant, Catfish Island every time he came to visit, and listened to his stories of the military. He will be missed by all his friends from church. He loved helping around the church building and was always fixing or making something. One of his favorite projects was making a carnival style target practice game for kids to play with a Nerf gun. He was always in charge of putting out the sign for VBS and getting rid of wasps around the front door of the building. He loved the monthly Fellowship meals and weekly meals prepared for widows/ widowers and shut ins. Arley was loved and admired by many, and our lives will never be the same now that he’s gone. Thank the Lord that this is not the end, and he will be praising the Lord for all eternity. Services for Mr. Levitt will be held at Stevens Funeral Home Chapel, 11:00 A.M., Saturday, with burial in Salem Cemetery in Goodwin. Visitation will be Saturday, 10:00 A.M., until the time of the service. Stevens Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. You may log on to stevensfuneralhome.net for the online registry.

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Arley Wilburn Levitt

February 20, 1933 - April 2, 2023