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The BHS graduating class of 1916. Sidney Levyson (later Stanley Stein) is in the second row, second from the left, wearing the bow tie.
Born in Gonzales, Texas in 1899, Sidney Levyson was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Levyson who rented the Rud Carstanjen building for their business, Levyson’s Drug Store, from 1904 to 1920. Sidney’s father was of Jewish descent and his mother was born in Germany. They were the only Jewish family in town during the early years of Boerne.
Sidney Levyson, a graduate of Boerne High School, was interested in theatre and journalism. He wrote a weekly column for The Boerne Star, but was encouraged by his father to take over the family business. Sidney became a pharmacist, but sadly, developed Hansen’s disease, the proper name for leprosy. Little was known at the time about Hansen’s disease, named for the Norwegian doctor who discovered the bacterium in 1873.
Because of public fear of this disease, Sidney Levyson left Boerne and changed his name to Stanley Stein to protect his family. At the age of 31, he moved to a military hospital in Carville, Louisiana where he received treatment. While there, he became an advocate to improve the lives of all Hansen disease sufferers.
Mr. Levyson edited a newspaper called The Star 66, in tribute of his first experience writing for The Boerne Star. This newspaper helped put the word out that Hansen’s disease was treatable and that people who had it could live normal, happy lives.
Sidney Levyson wrote his autobiography Alone No Longer under the name Stanley Stein before his death in 1967. Remembered for his life’s mission for human rights, Sidney Levyson is buried next to his family in San Antonio.
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