Russell "Pete" R. Levitte, Sr.

“Elvis has left the building”—Russell Richardson “Pete” Levitte, Sr. would have probably said this himself as he passed on April Fool’s Day, 2026, which, as a born jokester, he probably planned. Born March 6th, 1932, to Isabel and Russell V. Levitte, D.D.S., he was nicknamed “Pete” by his mother, as she had actually always wanted a son named Peter, which does beg a few questions.

Growing up as the son of a Navy dentist, Pete attended nine different elementary schools around the country throughout World War II, graduating from Detroit Country Day School in 1949. Forever curious about how things work, he started a physics degree at a variety of different colleges, and was drafted into the Army during the Korean War, but was never sent abroad. Shortly after witnessing the launch of the Edmund Fitzgerald, he was set up on a blind date with the feisty daughter of a farmer named Sally Bates. Three weeks after that first date, they knew they were soulmates and married in February of 1960. They welcomed their sons Russell Richardson “Rich” Jr. and Ronald Bates “Ron” in 1961 and 1962. Always bold, in 1964, Pete made the unheard-of move of quitting his job with General Motors and invested his life savings in Northern AmPower Corporation with his dear friend, Tom Bacsanyi. As a small business, they kept things afloat until 1974 when they secured a contract from Ford Motors to build equipment that test seatbelts—their big break! Their reputation took off, and soon they made equipment to test seatbelts for all for the Detroit Big Three, and even abroad in Ireland and Hungary. In the 80s, they moved to test equipment for Bosch spark plugs.

Beyond his career, Pete was an active participant in supporting the athletic program at Hartland High school, and was the president of the Boosters Club. He never missed a single cross-country meet for Ron, any football games for Rich, or wrestling matches for both sons, Sally cheering by his side. Always animal lovers, Pete and Sally were known for their eccentric cat Finnegan, their Bouviers des Flandres Nudge and Gunther, and their hand-raised robin Downtown, among a rotating cast of other animal characters in their house. Retiring to Harbor Springs in 1988, Pete and Sally built Sally’s dream house on Amy’s Way. There, they raised their beloved third dog/son Rommel (yet another Bouvier des Flandres) and became devoted grandparents Regan, Thorsen, and Paige, with oldest son Rich moving up to Petoskey with his family in 1998 to join them. The world’s biggest dog-lover, Pete became affectionately known as “Bark” to his granddaughters for his constant jokes of barking as he entered a room and calling “Where’s that dog?!”. He spent his retirement and senior years working with wood, bicycling, motorcycling as the World’s Coolest Granddad, reading everything about World War II history, and crushing the competition at Jeopardy. He truly knew a little bit about everything!

He will always be known for his “Pete-isms”, like, “It’s my turn to interrupt” during boisterous conversation; “some’s good, but a lot’s better” especially when vanilla ice cream was involved; “if you think life owes you a living, let me know how to collect”; “used oats are cheaper”; and “Elvis has left building” when he was about leave anywhere—even the grocery store. Beloved memories from his grandchildren include Sunday dinners with stove-popped popcorn, eating piles of gingersnaps, doing word puzzles in the Sunday paper, a variety of handmade wooden toys, fishing, and impressing everyone on Pet Day with Rommel’s size. We do also believe that the world’s pistachio supply will recover now that he’s passed, but it remains to be seen if Werther’s butterscotch disks will be able to continue on without their best customer.

As we lay Pete to rest, the family would like to thank friends and relations Ron and Janet Kirsch, Byron and Caryl Chocola, and the staff at Hillside Retirement Village and Bay Bluffs for making his senior years fulfilled and comfortable. He was preceded in death by his parents and the love of his life Sally Levitte, and is survived by sons Rich (Sue) Levitte and Ron (Charlene) Levitte and grandchildren Regan, Thorsen, and Paige. The family is planning a celebration of life at the beginning of May, and Pete’s ashes will be interned at his request at the Fort Custer Army Base in Battle Creek, Michigan. 

In lieu of flowers, we ask that you please make donations to the Little Traverse Bay Humane Society.