George Levy was born in Petersburg, Virginia, and raised in Sumter. He attended Clemson University and received an LL.B. from the University of South Carolina Law School at age 19. He practiced in Sumter for 65 years.
He served as President of the Sumter Bar, Chairman of the South Carolina Bar Association’s Committee on Ethics, and as a member of the American Bar Association. In 1918, he served overseas with the 81st Infantry Division, becoming its Assistant Trial Judge Advocate and receiving its Divisional Citation.
He organized Sumter’s American Legion Post, served as State Commander in 1928, as a National Executive Committeeman from 1934 until 1970, received the Legion’s Distinguished Service Award, and during World War II he served as a member of the Selective Service Board.
Governor James F. Byrnes appointed him to the South Carolina School Committee. He also served the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Boy Scouts of America, the Tuberculosis Association and the United Appeal.
He was a member of the Temple Sinar, a Mason, an Elk, and a Trustee of the Shriner’s Crippled Children’s Hospital in Greenville.
His widow, Pauline Gardner Levy, daughter, Corrine L. Philips, and grandsons, George Davis Philips, and John T. Philips, Jr. survived him.
A leader of the South Carolina Bar, a perfectionist in what he required of himself, he upheld the highest standards of his profession.