Levy was born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA on 1 November 1910. Her parents were Louis Wilk, a photographer and a movie theater manager, and Mollie Morris, a homemaker. Her grandparents were German Jews who immigrated to Pennsylvania shortly after the American Civil War. She had one older brother, Ralph. The family later moved to Manhattan, New York City, where her father illustrated posters for the latest releases. She graduated from Wadleigh High School in Harlem before attending Hunter College, but never graduated.

In 1933, her older brother died of tuberculosis at the age of 34. On 28 April 1939, she married Seymour Levy, whom she met on a cruise. The couple had two children, Ralph and Lynn. Her husband sold housewares for a company founded by his father, which he would eventually helm. She worked as a secretary for her husband’s business for much of her life and continued to work there after his death in 1991, retiring when she was in her 90s.

In the early 1950, the family purchased a home in Larchmont. At some point, she was treated for breast cancer, and she smoked until 1965, when the U.S. Surgeon General put health warnings on cigarette packs. Following her husband’s death, she moved into the Osborn, a senior living community in Rye, New York. She lived there independently until she moved into its assisted living facility during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When asked about the secret of her longevity, she cited a healthy diet, especially yogurt.

Levy passed away in Greenwich, Connecticut (where she was likely hospitalized), USA, on 17 July 2023, at the age of 112 years, 258 days. She was survived by her two children, four grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren (with two more on the way at the time of her passing).