Peter Moritz Levin, a retired Towson juvenile law attorney and noted ballpoint pen collector, died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer at his Cedarcroft home. He was 77.
Mr. Levin, the son of an attorney and a homemaker, was born and raised in Detroit, where he graduated in 1951 from Cranbrook High School.
He attended Wayne State University and earned a bachelor's degree in 1955 from the University of Michigan.
After graduating from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1963, his first job as a lawyer was working for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which was followed by a brief stint with the Baltimore City Department of Legal Aid.
He was working as a claims adjuster for Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. when he went into private practice in 1970 with his wife, the former Nancy McCortney, whom he married that year.
"When you work and live together for 40 years, I expect him to be sitting at the desk," Mrs. Levin, whose field is divorce and custody law, said Friday. "We worked in different areas of the law, and we helped each other out on our cases," she said. "It wasn't a competition but rather a wonderful thing."
Mrs. Levin, also a Detroit native, went to an all-girls high school that was right across the street from her husband's high school.
"We didn't meet in high school because he's seven years older," she said. "We met at Legal Aid, where I was working as an attorney. When he came for a job, I was told to show him around, and I thought to myself, 'His accent sounds so familiar.' I asked him if he was from the Midwest, and he said Detroit."
Mrs. Levin said her husband had a special way of connecting with troubled juveniles, many of whom later became lifelong friends. "They'd drop by the office to talk to him and would send him Christmas cards. It was a special thing," she said.
"I remember one boy whom he got to go on to high school and later college. He then got a prestigious job after graduating from college. He came by and thanked him for his help," she said. "If he could help someone, he would."
Retired Baltimore Circuit Judge John F. Fader II was an old friend.
"They were inseparable, and their marriage was a real good love match, and they prospered together," said Judge Fader. "Pete was a lawyer who came to court and was always prepared. He was respectful and represented his clients to the fullest and did it well."
Mike Moran, a Towson attorney who practices business law and litigation, had worked in his early days for Mr. Levin. "Pete always said his last name rhymed with seven," said Mr. Moran, with a laugh.
"I first met Pete when I moved into private practice full time in 1995 from the Baltimore County attorney's office," he said. "Pete liked to take young lawyers under his wing and, to use his words, was a 'throwback' to a time when lawyers considered mentoring and developing young lawyers not only a part of their professional responsibility but also the way to preserve the best traditions of the legal culture," he said.
"He was always generous with his time and sharing his legal insight," recalled Mr. Moran. "Pete was a real nice guy."
Mr. Levin retired last year from the practice of law after being diagnosed with cancer.
Mr. Levin was a world traveler, which helped him expand his hobby as a ballpoint pen collector. He had amassed a collection of thousands of ballpoint pens, which were displayed on one wall of his Cedarcroft home and in his Towson office.
"His favorite pens were those others 'stole' for him," his son, Peter Willett Levin of Baltimore, said with a laugh. His son said his father tailored his daily wardrobe to accommodate the ever-present ballpoint pens he had in his shirt pocket.
"He always wore khaki pants and white shirts with a pocket where he kept several pens and drinking straws. He seldom wore a jacket," his son said. "That was his uniform. His closet was full of white shirts and khakis. He was an eccentric."
Mr. Levin described his father as "a whimsical man" who relished "telling tall tales."
"He could talk your ears off," he said. "He was also a huge political junkie and a walking almanac of political history. You could ask him who was the U.S. senator from such and such state in 1934, and he'd give you the right answer. He just had a photographic memory when it came to history and politics."
Mr. Levin collected books on history and politics and enjoyed reading.
He also was a lifelong devoted Detroit Tigers fan and followed the Orioles.
A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. July 17 at Stony Run Meeting House, 5116 N. Charles St.
Also surviving are a daughter, Dr. Ilse Levin of Silver Spring; a brother, Michael Levin of Plainfield, N.J; and a grandson. Another daughter, Trudy Ann Levin, died in 1986.