Larry Levine (1943-2002) was born in in Huntington, the second son of Louis Edward Levine and Lillian “Lil” Sarah Levine. He graduated from Huntington High School in 1961 and from Marshall University in 1966 with a teaching degree. At Marshall, Levine was a member of the Army ROTC drum and bugle corps and Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, for which he was an adviser in the 1990s. Levine was a founding member of, and drummer for, the Collegiates, a popular Huntington-based band in the 1960s.
After graduating from Marshall, Levine taught business math at Huntington High School. However, he is perhaps best remembered as co-founder and vice president of The Pied Piper Inc., the Huntington-based musical instrument and audio-video retailer, which he and his brother, Charles “Chuck” S. Levine, opened in June 1967. From its humble beginnings at 1035 4th Ave., The Pied Piper would become a Huntington landmark after moving to a 15,000-square-foot Tudor-style building at 1200 3rd Ave. in 1976. The Pied Piper grew to five locations in West Virginia and Kentucky and, in 1991, Music Trades magazine ranked the company as the third largest, full-line American music retailer.
In 1978, Larry and Chuck Levine helped introduce Huntington to drum and bugle corps competition through Drums Across the Tri-State. Presented annually for 23 years, the show was one of the longest-running competitions sanctioned by Drum Corps International.
Levine was a director and past president of the Huntington YMCA and a board member of the Cabell County American Cancer Society. Through the years, he helped with toy drives and other philanthropic activities. He also served on the board of directors of the Guaranty Bank and Trust Co., the Guaranty National Bank, the Commerce Bank Huntington branch and the Huntington branch of Huntington Bank.
