Joel Levinson

Dr. Joel Levinson, 72, of Mountainside died Feb. 3, 2011. He also maintained a second home in Chicago.

A gastroenterologist who originally intended to become a sportscaster, Dr. Levinson entered private practice in 1971 in Springfield and continued to maintain a thriving practice until his retirement in 2010. He served as chief of gastroenterology and later chief of medicine at Overlook Hospital in Summit. In 1990, he became vice president of the medical staff at Overlook, and then president. He earned appointments as assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. The syllabus he established helped prepare doctors for the boards in gastroenterology.

After graduating from Cornell University in 1959, he attended Georgetown Medical School. He later studied at the University of Chicago under Dr. Joseph Kirsner and at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

He served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force.

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He embraced long-distance running for weight loss, and later competed in numerous marathons, including Boston.

Predeceased by his son, Kipp, in 1985, he is survived by his wife, Barbara “Bobby” (Fineman), whom he married in 1960; two daughters, Marcy Williams of Atlanta and Dana Levinson Noonan of Chicago; and seven grandchildren.

Services were held Feb. 6 with arrangements by Menorah Chapels at Millburn, Union. Memorial contributions may be made to County of Union (notation: Kipp Levinson fund), Department of Parks & Community Renewal, Admin. Building, 2nd floor, Elizabethtown Plaza, Elizabeth, NJ 07207, attn: Joseph Addessa, Accounts Receivable.