Donald J. Levy

Donald Jerome Levy was born in Fresno, CA to Pauline and Fred Levy on February 23, 1926. He received a teaching degree in 1947 from Fresno State University and a Masters Degree in drama from the University of Southern California in 1948. Don began teaching at Lodi High School in the fall of 1949. Over the years, he taught drama, stagecraft, creative writing, television production, and literature. During this time he met Delores Gross, and they were married in 1953. Early in his teaching career, Don also wrote for television shows such as The Rifleman, Gunsmoke and Have Gun Will Travel. In the 70s, he accepted several small movie roles offered to him by his childhood friend and college roommate, Sam Peckinpah. Under Peckinpah, Don acted in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, and Convoy. Always a promoter of the local dramatic arts, Don served on the Lodi Arts Commission and was instrumental in establishing The Biennial Lodi Drama Fest for which he wrote and directed Mostly Moliere in 1994 and Partly Plautus in 1996. Following his retirement from teaching in 1982, Don felt a calling to ministry and served as a pastor to a small church in Lodi called Faith Fellowship until 1986. Later, he was on staff at Lakeview Assembly and West Lane Foursquare in Stockton and at New Hope Church in Manteca. Don passed away on September 21, 2006. He was preceded in death by his youngest daughter, and survived by Delores Levy, his wife of 53 years, three children, and many grandchildren.