John Bertels Levert, Jr., a native of New Orleans and a resident of Bush and Covington, passed away on Sunday, December 18 at the age of 91. He is survived by his children, John B. Levert, III (spouse Betsy Billeaud Levert) and Anne Lee Levert (spouse Eric M. Hardy); and three grandchildren, Zoe Madeline Levert, Molly St. Julien Levert and Simone Levert Hardy, as well as his brother, J. Alfred Levert, II (spouse Martha Farwell Levert). He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 65 years, Anne Barrington King Levert, his parents, John Bertels Levert and Mary Jacqueline Tutwiler Levert, and his in-laws, Clifford Alonzo King and Blanche Eleanor Williams King. John was born on April 16, 1931 in Mountain Brook, Alabama and moved to New Orleans at the age of two. He attended Isidore Newman School and graduated from The Lawrenceville School in Princeton, N.J. in 1950. He attended the University of Virginia for one year before falling in love with Anne and transferring to Tulane University to be closer to her. John graduated from Tulane in 1954 with a B.A. in English and married his love, Anne, later that same year on December 27, 1954. After living in Baltimore and Denver while John was serving in the Army's Counter Intelligence Corps, Anne and John moved back to New Orleans. There, John became a salesman for Carl E. Woodward Construction and the Executive Vice-President of Metal Building Products. In 1970, John joined Howard, Weil, Labouisse, Friedrichs, Inc., and was elected President in 1975 and Chairman and CEO in 1977. John was named a Legg Mason director with its acquisition of Howard Weil in 1987. An active member of the New Orleans business community, John was affiliated with many organizations. He served both as a regional board member and national Governor of the National Association of Securities Dealers, an executive committee member of the Security Industry Association, vice-chair of the National Business Conduct Committee, member of the Regional Firms advisory committee of the New York Stock Exchange and a director of First City Bank. Additionally, he was President of United Lands, a director of J.B. Levert Land Company, and a partner in Galerie Simonne Stern. John served as a director of the Public Affairs Research Council, a member of the Business Task Force on Education, and a member of the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce Business Council. He earned a leadership and management certificate from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. John was active civically as well. He was campaign finance chairman for Russell Long, president of the United Way Greater New Orleans, chairman of the Archbishop Community Appeal, and a recipient of the Arthritis Foundation's Humanitarian Award. John was a director of the New Orleans Arts Council, a board member of the Louise S. McGehee School, and an active member of the Sierra Club. He was a member of the Boston Club and the Louisiana Club and he served as Commodore of the Southern Yacht Club. John had a long and dedicated involvement with Loyola University. He was on the board of trustees from 1989 until 1997, serving as chair from 1992 to 1996. In 1998, he was named as honorary trustee. He co-founded the College of Business' Center for Spiritual Capital. He was a member of the Heritage Society and the Society of St. Ignatius. John received an honorary doctorate of business in 2011. Most important to him, John was the recipient of the Papal Knight of St. Gregory Award for his part, along with Archbishop Philip Hannan and Bubby Hartson, in securing initial funding for Second Harvest Food Bank. Archbishop Hannan was responsible for introducing John to the Sazerac cocktail. John met two popes, Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis. After his retirement from Howard Weil / Legg Mason in 1998, John and Anne moved to Bush, Louisiana to carry on his lifelong pursuit of "being a cowboy." He founded Evangeline Farms, which owned and bred Paso Fino horses. He was the 2001 Paso Fino Horse Association Reserve Grand National Champion Amateur Owner Class winner, the 2005 Amateur Owner Rider of the Year, and the founder of an associated charitable foundation. He was a board member of the Southeast Junior Livestock Show. Following his own advice that "life is to be lived," John, always accompanied by Anne, played as hard as he worked. John and Anne were life-long sailors, winning many regional races on their boats, Clothilde and Evangeline. They won races to Cozumel in 1981 and, with their daughter, Lee, to Isla Mujeres in 1991. John and his son, Trip, raced enduro motorcycles, hunted at McElroy and flew single and twin-engine planes. Anne and John climbed mountains, skied, played tennis and golf, fly-fished and the whole family canoed, camped and white-water rafted. John raced bicycles, ran marathons and wind-surfed. He played the mandolin and the guitar, often performing with a group at the Covington Farmers' Market. John was a gifted painter and metal-crafter and was an enthusiastic Cajun joke and story-teller. John was extremely proud of his three beautiful granddaughters and regularly commented that they were more intelligent than he. He loved his daughter-in-law, Betsy, and his son-in-law, Eric, as his own. John was honest, fair, honorable, hard-working, creative, loyal and a natural leader. He loved his family, his wine and Sazeracs, dining out, pocket knives, fountain pens and old country and bluegrass music. His exceptional presence will be missed. The family wishes to thank Monica Baker, Alethea Womack and everyone at Christwood Retirement Community for their love and support. Relatives and friends are invited to attend on January 3, 2023, a visitation and mass at Holy Name of Jesus at 10:30 am, followed by a celebratory observation of John Levert's life at the Southern Yacht Club. The interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in John's name to Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans (700 Edwards Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70123).