Stephen Levitan loved deeply and well – and always stacked a dishwasher the right way | Canada Voices

Stephen Lawrence Levitan: Family man. Traveller. Artist. Trampolinist. Born July 9, 1951, in Ottawa; died April 1, 2026, in Toronto, of heart failure; aged 74.

Stephen Levitan’s favourite expression was “Wow!” “Wow” to the Garuda statues guarding temples in Kathmandu, “Wow” to the Van Gogh self-portrait in Amsterdam that moved him to tears, “Wow” to the beach in Tel Aviv that he called “the happiest place in the world.”

Stephen never lost the deep sense of wonder he had as a boy growing up in 1950s Ottawa, the middle child of Cecelia and Elliott Levitan. Stephen was passionate about creating art and he loved trampoline, which he did competitively as a teenager until an accident put an end to his bouncing career. After that, he worked as a trampoline judge at the provincial level.

Always curious, Stephen took a full 10 years of undergraduate education, moving from psychology and philosophy at McGill, to interior design at Ryerson, until he found his true calling: industrial design at Carleton. He worked happily in that field and created award-winning designs until illness put an end to that career at the age of 52.

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Stephen continued to create art all his life, including vivid psychedelic, optical-illusion canvases. Up until the week before he died, he was still experimenting with beautiful Star of David designs, creating hundreds on his computer.

But maybe Stephen’s most striking attribute was his ability to love deeply and well. He met his wife-to-be, Marsha, in the early 1980s. It was a blind date. When Marsha saw Stephen standing at the door with his big open smile she stereotyped him as too nice, at a time when she thought she preferred edgier men. And so, after their first date, Marsha told a friend that Stephen would make someone a wonderful husband but that person wasn’t her.

But Stephen gradually won her over with his phenomenal breakfast-making skills, his nurturing nature and his wonderful smell. Every month for years, to commemorate the day of their first meeting, Stephen brought Marsha flowers.

The next four decades were filled with travel, adventure and child-rearing. When Stephen met Marsha at the age of 31, he’d never travelled outside of North America. Marsha suggested their first trip: Morocco. On arriving, overcome by the new sights, sounds and smells, Stephen promptly vomited. He recovered well enough to stay in a Berber village in the Atlas Mountains, and to climb Mount Toubkal, the highest mountain in North Africa.

After that, Stephen was hooked on travel and he and Marsha explored all over the world. After their children were born, their son Mark in 1990 and their daughter Julia just over three years later, Stephen outfitted them with tiny backpacks early in life so they could accompany their parents on their adventures.

Mark and Julia were the pride of Stephen’s life. Strangers in the bank or behind the deli counter all knew about Stephen’s son, the doctor, or Stephen’s daughter, the clinical psychologist. He couldn’t contain himself. Stephen attended all his children’s convocations and landmark events, cheering loudly, his eyes often filled with tears.

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He wasn’t perfect. Stephen’s insistence that there was only one way to fill a dishwasher or fold a T-shirt, would drive loved ones crazy. And even as a diabetic, he hid his chocolate bars so Marsha wouldn’t eat them first. After his death Marsha, when searching for legal documents, found a stash of multiple chocolate bars expertly concealed in a filing cabinet.

Stephen loved life. After he had a series of heart attacks followed by a pioneering form of open heart surgery in 2002, he worked hard to stay alive. A true fighter, he exercised for two hours every day. He estimated he circled the globe two-and-a-half times based on the miles he covered on the treadmill, ski machine and stationary bike. His cardiologist called him a cat, with nine lives, because somehow he always came back from the brink.

There was so much to come back for. Stephen was known for his huge smile and shining optimism. For every celebration Stephen presented Marsha with a richly coloured orchid and a beautiful card detailing the events of the past year. He loved food, theatre, art, reading, playing pool and, most of all spending time with family and friends. The birth of his grandson, Freddie, delighted him beyond measure.

Stephen never stopped growing and learning. In recent years he developed new interests. His eye for detail and analysis served him well as he collaborated with Marsha as a copy editor on her newspaper columns. He also worked with her as an illustrator on an exuberant children’s verse book.

Stephen wasn’t ready to go. But he never wanted to “dwindle” and, true to form, he went in the thick of life, still appreciating the kindness of nurses and doctors, enjoying food while he could eat, expressing love and finding wonder in the smallest of everyday moments.

Marsha Barber is Stephen Levitan’s wife.

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