James Lavenstein

James U. Lavenstein, 95, died peacefully at home on April 16, 2025, with his beloved wife, Maralyn, by his side.

Born August 27, 1929, in New York City, New York, to Claudia Ullman and Meyer H. Lavenstein, Jim was the younger of two sons. He grew up in New Rochelle, attended the University of Virginia, and later moved to New York City to begin a career in television management.

His broadcasting career spanned several decades and regions. Jim worked as an administrative manager for CBS in New York, helped launch ABC’s first affiliate stations in Boise and Pocatello, Idaho, and served as founding manager of KOKI-TV, an independent station in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Earlier in his career, he contributed to Radio Free Europe, supporting its mission of independent journalism behind the Iron Curtain.

Jim’s lifelong passions were classical music, current events, and family. He listened faithfully to his favorite radio programs and made a point of knowing the careers of conductors and orchestras in minute detail. A devoted news reader, he consumed three newspapers each morning and tuned in to local and national broadcasts each night, believing that staying informed was a civic duty. His children and grandchildren grew up on stories so colorfully told that no one could quite tell whether he was recalling an experience, spinning a yarn, or both.

Jim and Maralyn were married in 1962 and shared 63 years of loving partnership, grounded in deep friendship and commitment to their three children.

He is survived by his wife, Maralyn Ballif Lavenstein; daughters, Meryle Lynn Chamberlain and Hollie Lavenstein (James Shelley); six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents, his brother, and his son.