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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015
THE SUMTER ITEM
Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: pressrelease@theitem.com
LOCAL BRIEFS FROM STAFF REPORTS
FEMA center to close until relocated The Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced the Sumter Disaster Recovery Center, 700 W. Liberty St., will close today at 7 p.m. and will remain closed until a new location is determined. The new location will be announced as soon as it is confirmed. Disaster survivors who need assistance registering or have questions about disaster assistance may call (800) 621-3362 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. They can also locate the closest open center by visiting asd. fema.gov/inter/locator/home. htm. For more information, call (803) 714-5894.
Man charged with trying to hit victim with ax Sumter County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Sumter man Friday for allegedly attempting to strike someone with an ax. A warrant issued Friday alleges while on Jerry Street in MOSES Sumter County, 55-year-old John Moses assaulted the victim with his fists and attempted to hit the victim with an ax while threatening his life on Wednesday. Moses, of 42 Jerry St., was transported to Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center and is charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.
Organization helps local girls train for 5K and their futures BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com The staff at the Alice Drive Fire Station received cookies and thank you cards from several Alice Drive Elementary students Thursday as a token of appreciation for their service. The nine students participate in Girls on the Run, a national organization established in 1996 in Charlotte that strives to get young girls to recognize their true potential. Kim Johnston, a fifth-grade teacher at Alice Drive and GOTR coach, said delivering the gifts is part of the girls’ community service activities. After exchanging thank yous, the fire fighters described their duties to the girls. “We work our whole careers waiting for surprises,” Lt. Judson Coker. said The girls listened to the alarm that alerts the fire fighters to an emergency and got an up-close look at the jaws of life. When the GOTR team is not being active in the community, it is training for a 5K run that will signal the end of their season on Dec. 1. Johnston said the girls have met twice a week since September to train for the Girls on the Run 5K that takes place today in Columbia. All GOTR teams throughout the state will participate in the run, she said. The Alice Drive team started with walking and graduated to running. Johnston said the team has made training fun by providing incentives such as bead bracelets and spraying different colors in the girls’ hair when they completed a lap. “The girls are really excited about it,” Johnston said. “They’ve worked so hard.” The local team, sponsored by GOTR in
RICK CARPENTER / THE SUMTER ITEM
The Girls on the Run team from Alice Drive Elementary School baked cookies and wrote notes of thanks to firefighters for their service as part of a community service project. The girls surprised the Alice Drive Fire Station with the gifts Friday.
Columbia, started this year after Alice Drive Principal Suzanna Foley thought it would be a great opportunity for girls, she said. Johnston said the Alice Drive team is the only team in Sumter, but the Columbia sponsors have expressed that they want more local schools to start teams.
Johnston said GOTR is good for the girls to build self-esteem and find positive ways to deal with the negativity associated with appearances in media. The girls are learning how to be good friends at all times and what’s on the inside is most important, she said. Third-grader Helen Grace Gannaway said GOTR has helped her and the other members realize their talent. “We know who we can be in the future,” she said.
DR. WENDELL M. LEVI JR. • 1927 - 2015
Surgeon remembered for skill, philanthropy Dr. Wendell Mitchell Levi Jr., a general and thoracic surgeon that practiced in Sumter for 40 years and founder of Sumter Surgical Associates P.A., is remembered as a kind and generous man who went beyond the call of duty for his patients. “He loved all people,” said Betty Caulkins, who worked with Levi as a nurse for many years. Levi, 88, died Wednesday after a brief battle with cancer. Caulkins described Levi as a physician who was very thorough with his work, “leaving no stone unturned.” She said that at the beginning of his career, he worked during a time when surgeons performed a variety of operations, from general to orthopedics. “He dedicated his life to saving lives in the Sumter community,” said Kathryn Weinberg Levi, his wife of 57 years, in his obituary. Fair Edmunds, who worked with Levi for about 25 years, described him as a brilliant, talented and empathetic person and surgeon. Dr. James Ellett, one of the original physicians at Sumter Surgical Associates, said Levi served as a mentor to him in his early years. “I very much enjoyed working with such a skilled surgeon,” Ellett said. “He helped me develop techniques after I
PHOTO PROVIDED
The late Dr. Wendell Mitchell Levi Jr., center, Sumter Surgical Associates founder, is seen with two of his partners, Dr. Gene Dickerson, left, and Dr. Mark Crabbe. completed my residency.” Dr. Henry Moses said Levi welcomed him back when he finished his residency. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for Dr. Levi,” Moses said. Moses said Levi was a well-know physician who set the standard for surgeons. “He was a wonderful surgeon who was dedicated to his craft,” he said. Dr. Gene Dickerson, Tuomey Healthcare System’s chief medical officer, de-
scribed Levi as a kind man who always had something positive to say. “He truly loved his community and was an extraordinarily skillful surgeon,” Dickerson said. “He was extremely generous with sharing responsibilities with the other surgeons at his practice.” Sumter Mayor Joe McElveen described Levi as extremely loyal to his patients. “His reputation as a surgeon was unparalleled,” McElveen said. “He was one of those rare intellectuals who had a broad interest in many subjects.” “He was truly a good man, an honest man, who always tried to do the right thing,” said his son, Dr. Mitchell Levi, in his obituary. “He loved God; he loved his family; he loved helping people and his community through medicine, and after retirement through philanthropy. He loved the outdoors and his farm.” Upon his retirement at the age of 72, Levi became a full-time farmer at Sans Souci Plantation, the 18th-century summer home of the Rutledge family. Levi was also a philanthropist. He and his wife were charter members of Les Trente and members of The Assembly in Sumter. He was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the South Carolina Surgical Society.
Born on September 13, 1927, he was the son of the late Wendell Mitchell Levi and Bertha London Levi, of Sumter He graduated from Sumter High School in 1944. He briefly attended the Citadel before enlisting, at the age of 17, in the U.S. Army. He was on board ship, en route to Japan when Hiroshima was bombed. He was among the first troops to arrive in occupied Japan. Upon his return, he enrolled at University of Virginia, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1950. Levi earned his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1954 and completed his internship at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. He completed his surgical residency at MUSC and was chief resident from 1959 to 1960. Levi served on the boards of The Congaree Land Trust, Shaw Air Force Base Restoration Advisory Board, Temple Sinai and Palmetto Pigeon Plant, founded by his father. He raised money to establish a fund for the maintenance and preservation of the historic Sumter Jewish Cemetery. Levi and his wife established nursing scholarships through The Tuomey Foundation for Central Carolina Technical College. — Konstantin Vengerowsky
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