Dr. Richard Levacy

Our family is devastated to confirm that Dr. Richard Anton Levacy died on Wednesday, March 6, 2019. Far more important than the facts concerning his death is the life he lived. 

If you knew him at all, you either called him Dr. Levacy or Tony or just Lev. We called him Dad and Granddaddy. He was a supporting husband, loving father, doting grandfather, and loyal friend.  He is survived by his wife, Mary Grace; son David Nichols of Prague, Czech Republic, David’s wife Renataand granddaughters Laura, Camilla, Natalie, and Isabella; son Michael Nichols of Austin, Texas, Michael’s wife Nicole,  granddaughters Zoe and Anicaand grandson Torin; his son Ryan Levacy of Austin, Texas and granddaughter Reese; his daughter Catherine Levacy Cockrell of Houston, Texas, Catherine’s husband Kendall and granddaughters Levacy and Caroline; his daughter Dr. Elizabeth Levacy Foley of Miami, Florida, Liz’s husband Ryan and granddaughter Emma; sister Rebecca Downing of Denison, Texas and husband Ted; and sister Rhonda Ray of Denison, Texas and her husband Morgan.  Whether he got to see them daily or just every once in a while, he loved spending time with his grandchildren spoiling them and imparting questionable wisdom.

Tony Levacy was the eldest son of Reverend Thurman Byron Levacy and Milda Muenzler Levacy. He was born on July 2, 1945 in Memphis, TN.  He spent his early days fishing in creeks with his brother, Robert and sister, Rebecca.  When his youngest sister, Rhonda, came along, they turned some of their focus to harassing her, but the outdoors always remained a big part of his life.  After working his way through Austin College, he graduated medical school with honors at University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and completed his residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.  He was a veteran of the United States Army Medical Corps and an Honorary Member of the 101st Airborne Division. Dr. Levacy arrived in Beaumont in 1977 and joined Dr. Jerry Lehman and Dr. Robert Robinson to begin to practice ophthalmology.  He has shared his successful practice with Dr. M. Kevin Harmon for the past 26 years and has had countless wonderful staff members along the way. He celebrated 40 years of practicing ophthalmology in Beaumont in 2017.  As the chairperson for the Eye Centers of SETX Christmas party, you knew you were going to one hell of a party and you were most definitely going to win some noteworthy prizes.

When he wasn’t helping his patients see better, he was out seeing the world for himself.  He loved to travel and saw much of the world with his wife Mary Grace, his family, and many of his dear friends.  To travel with Tony was an adventure on its own.  There were certain rules you automatically agreed to when you traveled with Dr. Levacy.  These were rules that he lived by himself.  Try EVERYTHING at least three times.  And if you decide you don’t like a certain food, it is because you’ve never tried “this one”.  Nobody knows these lessons better than his own family.  How many people do you know whose favorite restaurants include both Golden Corral and Thomas Keller’s Per Se in NYC?

Dr. Levacy remained an avid outdoorsman and huge supporter of wildlife organizations, especially the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Lamar University chapter of Ducks Unlimited.  He fished, hunted, and photographed wildlife all over the world.  Whether it was fishing for reds on the bayou or peacock bass on the Amazon, he was always up for fishing. He shared many hunting trips with great friends like Darryl Kantimer in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and Michael Meyers.  We have no doubt he is glad to be reunited with his very favorite hunting buddy and co-chef, Ted Caffarel.

Tony loved people.  All people.  Even the ones whom he knew were wrong on politics.  Many of his closest friends and family were liberals, or as he called them, morons.  He spent his free time working; roping his friends into crazy projects.  He rewired houses, skinned his own gators, endlessly repaired and remodeled his Fish Camp on Hillebrandt Bayou, replaced sprinkler systems, installed air conditioners, mucked properties after Harvey, and on and on.  If you were lucky enough to get roped into working on one of his crazy projects, like David Whitman or Michael Sonnier, you worked your tail off and laughed. A lot. 

Tony was the kind of friend who was always up for an adventure.  If you hinted that you were interested in going to the boats in Lake Charles, he was already headed to the bank to get some cash to shoot craps or play blackjack.  He would play table games until the wee hours of the morning and then he was up before 6am to get back at it again.  He was always the last to go to bed and the first to wake up. (His daughters did not inherit his ability to excel on very little sleep.)

Dr. Levacy loved to host dinner parties at his home. Aside from the annual Levacy Crawfish Boil held every spring in the Levacys’ back yard, Tony loved to entertain smaller groups of friends and family.  He would fly in the freshest sashimi-grade fish from San Diego and host a sushi night.  Or he would head over to HEB and pick up his favorite prime ribeye’s from the butcher.  His steaks were sous vide and his pasta was perfection.

Tony’s generosity knew no bounds.  If you mentioned to him that you really enjoyed pasta, a pasta maker would show up at your front door a few days later.  If you complimented a new gadget he was touting, he would buy 4 more and send one to you and give the other three.  He lived to take care of his friends and family.

Lev was the ultimate prankster.  He loved a good joke….at someone else’s expense.  He was constantly playing jokes on his office staff at work.  If someone left their keys out, good luck trying to find where he hid them!  After a trip to Petco one evening, he thought it would be hilarious to buy some dog biscuits and pass them off as cookies in the office kitchen.  He placed the dog biscuits on a plate in the kitchen and then waited around the corner to see who ate them so he could bark at them. Woof woof!

The one thing Tony could not do was keep a secret.  You did not want to entrust him with a secret he could not share.  With a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face, he would spill your secrets with his rosy cheeks faster than he could whip up a chocolate soufflé.  Now that we mention desserts, the other thing he could not do was walk past a birthday cake and not stick his finger in it…

In lieu of flowers, buy a case of MGD, and enjoy it by the water with friends.  Or order a gin and tonic and a prime filet.  Unless you order it well done.  Then just don’t even bother.  He would also like you to go see the remake of the Dark Crystal. 

A gathering of Dr. Levacy’s family and friends will begin at 5p.m., with a Celebration of his Life at 5:30 p.m., Sunday, March 17, 2019, at “Tony’s Place on the Bayou”, 1517 Hillebrandt Acres, Beaumont. Cremation arrangements were under the direction of Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont.