Obituary of Leonard Litvak

Eulogy for Leonard Litvak Leonard Litvak was born in Denver, CO on July 5, 1922, the son of Rose and Hyman Litvak, both originally from Matseev, Ukraine, formerly Russia. He was the youngest of three brothers, the oldest being Joe and the middle brother, Jake. His two brothers were born in Russia, Leonard in the US. He went to public school K-11 and Hebrew school on Denver’s Northwest-side. His father, Hyman, pulled Leonard out of North High School early, as was common in the 1930’s and 40s, to join him in the meat business. In those early years, Litvak Meat Company processed one to two cattle a day and sold them as street venders. Over the years to come, Leonard and his two brothers grew the company to a multi-million dollar enterprise processing over 2000 cattle a day. At age 19, in 1941, Leonard enlisted in the US Navy during the early part of World War II. He served as a Yeoman aboard the Battleship USS California for over 3 years where he took part of in many battles in the South Pacific. He would have quickly progressed in rank had his fiery personality not caused him a few demotions due to fighting with certain disagreeable shipmates. Thankfully, he was honorably discharged from the US Armed Forces on April 5, 1946. During a shore leave, while visiting relatives in Lakewood, New Jersey, he met his future wife Sylvia Gilman at a New Years Eve party in 1945. Sylvia was working at the time in NYC as a bookkeeper and was living with her parents and brother. After a whirlwind romance they were married five months later on June 1, 1946, in New York City. They were married for over 68 years. After a honeymoon in Niagara Falls, they continued their new journey in life driving west through Canada to settle in Denver, Colorado, the home to Leonard and his family. After returning to Denver, Leonard worked for his two older brothers and dad in the meat packing industry. After a year, Sylvia’s mother Gussie, and father Nat moved to Denver. Nat was an accountant by trade and went to work for the family meat business as well where he established a corporation for the firm. As Leonard quickly learned the business, he became the CEO of Litvak Meat Company. Over the years, the business prospered with lots hard work and a bit of good luck. The meat business offered Sylvia and Leonard a wonderful opportunity to travel both the US and the world, visiting customers and friends and enjoying countless experiences with wonderful people along the way. The business at its peak was a Fortune 500 company. Over the years, the business employed over 400 people, lasted for over 50 years and was well respected in Denver, nationally and internationally. Leonard was a devoted and respected member of many Colorado and national meat industry Boards. As the meat industry began to change in the late 1980s with vertical and horizontal monopolies taking over, Leonard was asked to testify in Washington DC during the Department of Agriculture hearings on the state of the meat packing industry. A few years later, as the economic climate for the small independent meat packer was becoming much more difficult, in 1994, the business was sold. The sale offered the opportunity for Leonard to phase out of the business over four years of part-time consulting and for Sylvia and Leonard to enjoy retirement. They became snowbirds and purchased a home in Scottsdale where they enjoyed the beautiful climate in Arizona for the winter months and drove back to Denver for the spring and summer months. Leonard enjoyed golf with his friends, was an avid reader, and stayed in great shape while working out on a daily basis, and eating an extremely healthy manner with the help of his highly skilled nutritionist, Sylvia. He was fortunate to enjoy good health during his long life of 92 years and cherished his relationships with his family and friends. His life was dedicated to service to his industry, to the many charities he chose to support, to his friends, and to his family. He was a mensch in the true sense of the word. As CEO of the business, much of his attention rested with his business in the early years. Nevertheless, he and Sylvia very much valued family and were blessed to have two children, Elaina and Cliff, in 1949 and 1953. They resided on the west side of Denver until 1955, when they moved to Hilltop in East Denver, where they remained for over 23 years. The family enjoyed numerous vacations together; many tied to meat industry national meetings, and created many great family memories. Over the years, Leonard and Cliff spend many summers trout fishing in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, and salmon and halibut fishing in Alaska and British Columbia. Many great times were also spent on the golf course together. The family became the main focus for Leonard and Sylvia over the years. Leonard and Sylvia never had the opportunity to attend college and wanted to provide the environment for their children to have a solid education and successful careers. The entire immediate family continued to reside in Denver where both children returned after college and grad school. Elaina and her husband Rich always have been extremely close to Leonard, as were Cliff and his wife Donna. Cliff and Donna gave Leonard and Sylvia two lovely granddaughters, Lauren and Jill, whom Leonard adored from the moment they were born. He was very proud of their many accomplishments. Leonard also lived a life that was fulfilled spiritually. He loved Judaism with its warm traditions and family values and was a weekly congregant at the Hebrew Educational Alliance. Until the end, on a daily basis he would lay tefellin, pray and give thanks for his fulfilled life whether at home, or away. He wanted to thank God for the cherished life he had been given. He very much loved all the Jewish holiday family celebrations and dinners. He was a man who lived life to its fullest, loved many and was loved by many more. The world has lost a truly remarkable man. He will be sadly missed.