SARASOTA, Fla. – Emily Hosley Levine of Sarasota, Fla. and East Dennis, Mass. died on Monday, Feb. 18, 2013 at the age of 88. Emily was born in Hackensack, N.J. on July 13, 1924 and was the daughter of Henry F. Hosley and Dora Beck. She was the widow of Larry Levine.
Emily graduated from Larson Junior College in 1943 and became a successful fashion buyer and merchandiser for Macy’s, G.Fox and Burdine’s. Later she was a retailer who founded the chain of Emily Lawrence Stores located in Cape Cod, upstate New York and Colorado.
Emily served on the Board of Directors of the Asolo Reperatory Theater through the end of her life. She was a long standing patron of the Sarasota West Coast Symphony, the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, Florida Studio Theater, Sarasota Opera, the All Faiths Food Bank, and the Ringling School Library Association. Emily was a member of the Sarasota Yacht Club and was the recording secretary of the Harbor Acres Home Owners Association. She served as President of the Raymond Moore Foundation (Cape Cod Center for the Arts) in Dennis MA, which runs the Cape Playhouse, the Cape Cinema, and the Cape Museum of Art, from 1990 to 1996 and as President Emeritus of that organization, until her death. She was a key fundraiser for the original renovation of the Rockwell Kent mural housed in the Cape Cinema. Emily was a member and strong supporter of the Dennis Union Church on Cape Cod as well as a member and donor to the renovation of the Dennis Memorial Library. She was one of the first female Yacht Club commodores in the country when she became the Commodore of the Dennis Yacht Club in 1990. Emily was a board member of the Dennis Conservation Trust. She was an active member of the DAR for 68 years, most recently of the Sara DeSoto Chapter. She is an Honorary Director of the LAM Treatment Alliance of Cambridge MA.
She is predeceased by her husband Larry Levine, her daughter Elena Levine Smith, her son Richard Henry Levine, and her granddaughter Amy Brillinger Pole.
She is survived by three children: her sons Joseph Groff Brillinger (Kathleen) of South New Berlin and Jeffrey Paul Brillinger of New York City and her daughter Anne Hall Levine of East Dennis, Mass.; grandchildren Lindsay Anne Brillinger of Utica and David Joseph Brillinger of Sarasota, Fla.; grandson-in-law Kevin Michael Pole of DeWitt and great grandson Jack Douglas Pole of Dewitt. Additionally she is survived by her brother Henry F. Hosley (Leslie) of Albany and many cousins, nieces, nephews and countless friends.
A funeral service will be held for Emily this Sunday, Feb. 24 at 11 a.m. at Toale Brothers Funeral Home, 40 North Orange Avenue, Sarasota, Fla. and will be followed by a reception at her home.
Interment will take place on Cape Cod at a time to be announced later.
In lieu of flowers, please make contributions in Emily’s memory to the Cape Cod Center for the Arts either online at capeplayhouse.com or by mail to P.O. Box 866, Dennis, MA 02638.