Things won’t quite be the same at Cecil’s Deli, the Jewish delicatessen that’s been a Highland Park staple for generations.
That’s because David Leventhal, the restaurant’s longtime owner, died in his sleep on Friday, Feb. 2, leaving behind his wife Sheila, four children, seven grandchildren — and decades of memories as the “patriarch” of the beloved restaurant.
One of those grandchildren, Sasha Kvas, described him in a Facebook post as a “walking landmark” who would find someone he knows “no matter where he went all across the world,” making “tremendous impacts” on the lives of many.
Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Leventhal graduated high school in Minneapolis in 1957 and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Japanese history from the University of Minnesota.
He also had a stint in the Air National Guard, and at 22, met his future wife Sheila Glickman — whose parents owned Cecil’s, having launched the business in 1949.
He went to work for them, and in 1980, David and Sheila bought the deli from the Glickmans. According to his obituary , Leventhal was a “shrewd businessman” who always took time to get to know the people he employed and served: