Anita Novick Lebowitz never did anything halfway. Whether it was running a business, organizing charity events, or falling in love – once Anita made a commitment of any kind, she was all-in.

When she met David Lebowitz on a blind date in the fall of 1953, she was a junior at Temple University in Philadelphia and he was a senior at the University of Pennsylvania across town. A year after their first date they were engaged and planning their wedding, but their plans were interrupted when David received orders to report for a two-year tour at Landstuhl Air Force Base in Germany. 

Anita had envisioned every detail of her wedding day for years, and she was determined that she and David were not going to be separated by an ocean for two years and that his orders were not going to interfere with their big day.   Without hesitation, she put together the wedding of her dreams in just three weeks.  “She was a strong woman, and she wanted a big wedding and fancy dress. We even had a week for a honeymoon in Bermuda,” David said.

When the couple returned from Bermuda, David left for Germany and Anita spent the next two months navigating red tape to get clearance to join him in a country where she didn’t speak the language and had no friends or employment prospects. Being with David was enough for her.

The couple set up housekeeping in a two-room flat above a bakery in a rural town near the base. The flat’s meager amenities were two coal-burning stoves for heat and a hot plate for cooking. There was no refrigerator, no oven, and no indoor plumbing. It was a far cry from Anita’s home in the Catskills resort area and David’s in Connecticut, but the couple adjusted. A year after arriving in Germany, they welcomed baby Susan, their first child.

When David’s deployment was over, the couple settled in Connecticut, where David went to work in his family’s business. After a year in New England, they relocated to Chicago and later added two sons, Robert and Kenneth. In 1971 the family moved to Flossmoor.  Anita embraced her role as a stay-at-home mom, involving herself in parenting and participating in school events and projects through the National Council of Jewish Women. “She didn’t start working [outside the home] until my senior year of high school,” said her daughter, Homewood resident Suzy Dritz.

When Anita did return to the workforce, it was in a job she loved.  “Anita grew up in retail working in her father’s store, and she loved to do two things,” David said. “She loved to buy, and she loved to sell anything. 

“When she walked into Final Touch [in downtown Homewood] shortly after we moved to Flossmoor, she was browsing and mentioned out loud that the store looked like a good place to work. The owner heard her and offered her a part-time job on the spot, but Anita told her, ‘I can’t. I have kids at home.’”

However, the owner was persuasive, and it didn’t take Anita long to agree to work one day per week for $2 an hour. Eventually Anita’s job became full-time, and she was running just about everything at Final Touch when the store’s owner decided to sell.  Anita was offered the chance to buy.

It was a big decision for the couple but on July 1, 1975, Anita took over the store, determined to make it profitable.  “She wanted to ‘out-field’ Marshal Field’s,” David said. Within a year, sales tripled, and the business was thriving. David eventually joined Anita at Final Touch, making the venture a true partnership. 

“She needed someone to unpack those boxes, price the stuff, and make the displays,” said David, who also managed the financials. Besides her success with the store, Anita became the first female recipient of the Homewood Chamber of Commerce’s Business Person of the Year award, and she was the first woman named to the board of directors of Great Lakes Bank, a position she held for 18 years. 

While devoting her time and talents to her family and business, Anita lived her Jewish faith through her contributions of time, effort, and insight as an active member of the National Council of Jewish Women, whose mission includes creating positive change in local communities. 

David said one of her group’s major projects was to adopt a school in Chicago Heights that had no budget for anything.  “They had a library with practically no books in it, no computers, so the women in NCJW tried to improve life for the kids. Both Anita and I volunteered. Every couple of weeks we sat with the kids and read age-appropriate books to them. She did kindergarten and I did third grade.” 

Anita also worked with her bank’s foundation to secure a $10,000 grant to renovate the primary grades’ playground, and her NCJW group raised another $10,000 to buy materials. The children’s parents donated their time and labor to install the playground’s apparatuses on a secure foundation.

Anita worked on many projects with NCJW, but she also did some on her own.  “When they were building the original Ronald McDonald House, someone came to the store and asked if we could contribute some stuff to furnish the bathrooms,” David said. “We did that but also got several of our suppliers to donate materials for the project and we ended up furnishing all the bathrooms, all anonymously.” He added that Anita also worked toward the establishment of the South Suburban Family Shelter, known today as Anew. She supported Planned Parenthood and generously contributed to local causes.  “Virtually every local organization knew that they could come to us, and we would help,” David said.

Anita Novick Lebowitz died on Father’s Day, June 16, 2024, at 91 and three months before her 70th wedding anniversary. 

“She was warm, witty and well-known in our tight-knit south suburban Jewish community,” said former Flossmoor resident Bonnie Rubin. “It was an honor to be her friend.”