Marcia Josel Levin graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. She then enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, where she became a member of Alpha Epsilon Phi.
After graduation, she enrolled at the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. In 1949, she married Aaron R. Levin, a Yale graduate who served in the United States Navy and Merchant Marines as a commissioned officer during World War II. The ceremony took place in Israel and they honeymooned in Europe. Back in the states, they lived in Philadelphia while Dr. Levin completed her studies. The Levins moved to California for her residency. There, they had two children, a boy and a girl.
Levin was a pediatrician in Sacramento. In 1970, she served as the first Director of Alta California Regional Center, which served the developmentally disabled. She also worked with the Sacramento Crippled Children’s Service and consulted with the Head Start program of the Intertribal Council of Nevada.
She was active in professional organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Academy of Cerebral Palsy and the Academy of Mental Deficiency. In addition, she served the National Federation of Temple Sisterhood District 24, the Jewish Community Relations Council and Temple B’nai Israel Board of Education.
Times Advocate, September 18, 1974
On September 25, 1975, the car she was driving was hit head on by a drunk driver. Her car went over an embankment on Star Highway 37, in a section known as the Black Point cut-off. The car came to rest in a drainage canal 10 feet deep, with about four feet of water in it. The car landed on its roof. Her leg was trapped beneath the door and rescuers were unable to extradite her. Levin drowned in 4 feet of water.
