LEWISTON – Dr. Booth Leavitt, 85, of Auburn, died early Tuesday, Sept. 6, at Central Maine Medical Center. He celebrated 63 years of marriage with his wife, the former Phyllis Bryant, one day earlier.

He was born July 12, 1920, in Madison, son of Gilman and Altie Leavitt. He attended Madison schools and graduated from Madison High School in 1937. In 1942, he graduated from the University of Maine at Orono with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a commission of second lieutenant in chemical warfare service. He was a member of SAE Fraternity and Alpha Chi Sigma engineering honor society. He later transferred to the Army Air Corps and became a B-24 liberator pilot. He and his crew of 10 served with the 451st group on the 5th Air Force in Italy.

Following World War II, he worked as a chemical engineer for Robert Gair Co., in Montville, Conn. In 1947, he became a dental student at the University of Maryland and graduated with a D.D.S. degree in 1951. For the next 35 years he practiced dentistry in Auburn and was a member of the staff at Central Maine General Hospital for most of his career.

He was an accomplished violinist and for many years played with the Portland Symphony Orchestra. He was a member of the Brunswick Oratorio Chorale, Androscoggin Chorale and the choir at High Street Congregational Church.

A diabetic for 55 years, he suffered the many complications of his disease with graceful acceptance and dignity. He loved his family, his work, his music, his church, his automobiles and his pets.

Surviving is his wife, Phyllis; two daughters, Barbara McGivaren of Portland, and Jane Daly and her husband, John, of Auburn; a grandson, Booth McGivaren of Burlington, Vt.; a granddaughter, Katherine Daly and her partner, Matthew Miles, of Brighton, Mass.; two nieces, Carole Dempsey of Pemaquid and Linda Sherman of Arcadia, Calif.; two nephews, Philip Almy of Hallowell and John Almy of Augusta; and his cat, Frannie.