Swede+as+Family+Man

**Dawn Levov **
====As a young man, the Swede met and married his first wife, Dawn. A former Miss New Jersey, Dawn captures the Swede's heart with her beauty and her spirit. With Dawn, the Swede starts a family and, for a brief while, lives an idyllic life in their home in the all-American small town of Old Rimrock, New Jersey. A doting husband, the Swede strives to fulfill his wife's every need and supports her in all of her schemes, including running a dairy farm and raising a prize bull in the barn on their property. ====

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**Merry's Stuttering **
====Just as he doted upon his beautiful wife, the Swede stopped at nothing to please his only child, Meredith. As a child, Merry, as she was called, struggled with a debilitating stutter. Her father did everything he could to help her overcome it, including sending Merry to a speech therapist who ultimately turned his daughter against him. One of the strategies that the therapist recommended Merry use was keeping a stuttering journal, in which she recorded the circumstances under which she stuttered each day. Unfortunately, keeping this journal contributed to Merry's assumption that her parents were in part to blame for her speech defect. ====

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**Merry's Catholicism **
====As a father, the Swede often struggled to deal with his daughter's rebellious nature. During one notably challenging period, Merry chose, under the influence of her maternal grandmother, to collect Catholic memorabilia including prayer cards, saint medals, votive candles, and even a small statue of the Virgin Mary. To her Jewish father, Merry's behavior was heartbreaking. The tolerance and love that he continued to show his daughter even during this difficult period stands as a shining testament to his noble, giving nature. ====



**The Vacation House **
====Thanks to the hard work of their devoted patriarch, the Levov family was able to live the American Dream and more. When the Swede opened a second Newark Maid factory in Puerto Rico, he built a luxurious seaside vacation home because he could not bear to leave his wife and daughter at home alone while he attended to business at the new plant. This vacation home was the site of many cherished Levov family memories. ====