LITTLE NECK, N.Y. - Harold Leviton, 90, chairman and CEO of Leviton Manufacturing Co., passed away Sept. 8, 2007. Leviton built Little Neck-based Leviton Manufacturing into a leader in electrical component manufacturing.

“I am deeply saddened that our industry has lost one of its icons,” said Donald Hendler, Leviton Manufacturing president, who was also Mr. Leviton’s son-in-law. “All of us at Leviton will deeply miss him and are comforted by the legacy of market innovation, philanthropy, and goodwill he has left us.”

Mr. Leviton was born to immigrant parents in Brooklyn in 1917. From a very early age, he is reported to have spent weekends in the Greenpoint factory that housed the company his father founded in 1906. At the time, the company made gas lamp mantles, and pull-chain fixtures for the Edison light bulb.

After earning a business degree from the University of Miami in 1940, Leviton worked in the company’s stockroom and purchasing department. In 1965 he took over as president, chairman, and chief executive. From 1998, Mr. Leviton served as chairman.

He served on the board of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association since 1976, as chairman of its wiring device section and an honorary member of its board of governors. He was also a charter member of the Electrical Safety Foundation International, and vice chairman emeritus of the National Electrical Safety Foundation.

He is survived by his wife Shirley; daughters Patricia, Adrienne, and Elizabeth; sons-in-law Hendler, Steven Sokolow, and Andrew Kriegman; 11 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.

Publication date: 10/01/2007