Loved Ones Mourn Michigan Grandparents Who Died 1 Day Apart in Back-to-Back Holiday Tragedies: 'Unbelievable'
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01/02/2025 12:18 PM
Scott Levitan and his wife Marylou Levitan died on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, respectively
GoFundMe
Marylou Levitan and Scott Levitan, who died in separate tragedies.Loved ones are mourning the deaths of Michigan grandparents following separate tragedies around the holidays.
Scott Levitan and his wife Marylou Levitan died on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day respectively following the back-to-back incidents, according to ABC affiliate WXYZ and The Independent.
The grandfather died on Wednesday, Dec. 31, four days after he and his grandson fell through the ice while fishing on Lake George in Addison Township, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office (OCSO) said.
The next day, the 66-year-old grandmother died after a three-car crash, according to the sheriff's office.
The woman was said to be in the backseat of a 2016 Ford Explorer that rear-ended a 2025 Chevrolet Trax that had stopped in the second eastbound lane of the highway and had its hazard lights on and also hit a 2018 Jeep Compass in the westbound lane.
According to a GoFundMe campaign that has been started to support the couple's family, the woman was on her way to retrieve her husband's vehicle when the crash happened.
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office called the pair of incidents "a tragic start to the new year."
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Friends and family are now publicly mourning the deaths of Scott and Marylou, who were married for 40 years, according to WXYZ.
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Jamie Izzo, who taught beside Scott at South Lyon Middle School for 20 years, told the station his longtime pal was "a great friend" and "one of the best human beings I've ever met in my life."
"I got up in the morning, checked that text," he added. "It was awful. Awful. And then in the next day or two I got the other text which was unbelievable. That situation where his wife passed away the next day going to get his car."
South Lyon head football coach Jeff Henson added, "When I came here, I didn't know anybody. Coach Levitan was the first person that kind of befriended me and became one of my biggest supporters."
Marylou's daughter and nephew, who did not want to speak with WXYZ on camera, said the grandmother loved the Detroit Red Wings and Lions and had season tickets for the Detroit Tigers.
Investigations into the ice fishing incident and three-car crash are underway, according to authorities.
