Jon Levitt, age 64, passed away surrounded by his family on Saturday, January 2 in Houston, TX from complications following surgery. He was a multi-talented, passionate person who lived with integrity and will be greatly missed.

Jon was born in New York, NY in 1956 and in 1970 moved with his family to New Zealand, which became his adopted country and always held a large place in his heart. New Zealand was where he became an expert skier and scuba diver and developed his love of photography and passion for cooking, which led him to co-own a favorite college restaurant called The Governors. He graduated from the University of Otago, in Dunedin, NZ, in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

He returned to the U.S. in 1986 to further his education and, as it turned out, to meet his spouse and life partner, Marydee Kelly. Jon and Kelly were married on June 22, 1991 in Sausalito, CA. Their honeymoon in New Zealand included skiing several mountains and bungee jumping off a bridge in Queenstown 229 feet above a river (twice). Jon made their wedding cake, a traditional three tier New Zealand fruit cake (very different from a typical US Christmas fruitcake) with fondant icing and hand painted flowers, and the couple traveled with the top tier and shared it with friends they visited while traveling the country.

Jon completed a Master of Arts in Marine Biology at San Francisco State University in 1990, after which he served as part of a research team in Antarctica, spending 3 months diving under the ice in McMurdo Sound to help document the slow recovery of the ecosystem following the military base’s former destructive practice of dumping barrels of waste off the edge of the ice at the end of each summer season. He was able to do more than just dive while there and returned with an amazing collection of underwater and above water photos of wildlife and ice and rock formations. One “extra-curricular” activity was joining the Lake Vanda Swim Club which requires skinny dipping in the frozen lake. Jon received both the National Science Foundation Antarctic Service Medal and the Department of the Navy Antarctic Service Medal for his work.

While Jon loved marine science, he desired a deeper understanding of how things work and this led him to pursue a PhD in Immunology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston TX, where he graduated in 2000 and has been on the faculty since 2002. In addition to his significant contributions to the understanding of MHC Class I molecule expression and dendritic cell biology, Jon was a comprehensive immunologist who taught immunology with a passion to all levels of learners. 

An associate professor in the Department of Pathology & Immunology and the Department of Urology, Jon was a decorated educator, having received a Fulbright and Jaworski Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching and Evaluation (2013) and the 8-Stranded Beta-Barrel Jelly Roll Award for Best Lecturer in the BCM Graduate School (in both 2014 and 2015), and been honored as a Member of the Academy of Distinguished Educators at BCM (2013).

Jon and Kelly welcomed two sons into the world: Ryan in 1998 and Christopher in 2000. These two chaps completely stole Jon’s heart and were the center of his world. Both of them share their dad’s love and passion for learning and teaching.

As his sons were growing, Jon became involved in their baseball activities and, to the surprise of his wife, developed an interest in Little League umpiring. After umpiring with Westbury Little League for a couple of years, he served as the Westbury Umpire-in-Chief (UIC) for 7 years and eventually became a District 16 umpire donating countless hours to the game.

Jon was well known for his exceptional cooking skill, expressed in incredible multi-course dinners, elaborate Christmas cookies from “Chez Levitt,” delicious Thanksgiving feasts, and the annual liquid nitrogen ice cream welcome parties for new students. Students were invited to submit flavor suggestions that Jon would combine and improvise upon to turn into surprisingly delicious and unusual flavors including lychee, prickly pear and honey, and Guinness and mint.

Jon’s sense of honor, ready advice, friendship, and the contributions he made wherever he went are all irreplaceable gifts. He will be greatly missed.

Jon is survived by his wife Kelly, his sons Ryan and Christopher, his mother Phyllis Levitt of Santa Rosa, CA, his sister Lisa Levitt (Paul Campbell) of Dunedin, NZ, his nephew Max Levitt-Campbell of Dunedin, NZ, and his niece Myra Levitt-Campbell of Melbourne, Australia.

We look forward to sharing our grief and memories together in person when it is again safe to do so. In the meantime, please share your favorite memories, stories, and photos on the memory page his family created (jonlevitt.forevermissed.com) They thank you.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Jon’s name to a charity you wish to support.