Outdoorsman, early executive of internet auction firm FreeMarkets

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

John P. “Trip” Levis III, a Pittsburgh business executive whose expertise in the office was matched by his love of spending time outside of it, died Wednesday. He was 56.

His death at UPMC Shadyside was a result of a lengthy illness that included leukemia and complications from a stem-cell transplant, according to his family.

Mr. Levis was hired early on by Downtownbased FreeMarkets, an internet auction firm that went public in 1999 at the height of the dot. com boom. He was FreeMarkets’ senior vice president and chief people officer as the company grew exponentially in influence and with thousands of employees worldwide.

“Stylewise, Trip was in some ways an anachronism,” said Sam Kinney, a friend and former colleague at FreeMarkets. “He was truly old-school, old-soul, thoughtful, wise. If there was a right way to do something, [he would] figure out what that right way is and do it. It may not be expedient, it may not be flashy, but there’s a right way to do things.”

Mr. Levis was born in Pittsburgh on Sept. 16, 1961, to John P. Levis Jr. and Susan Clancy. His grandfather, J. Preston Levis, was a former president and chairman of glass company Owens-Illinois Inc., based in Perrysburg, Ohio.

He attended Sewickley Academy, St. George’s School and Yale University before he enrolled in graduate school at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, where he met Mr. Kinney.

After Mr. Levis received his business degree, he went to work for a management consulting firm, McKinsey & Co., in various offices around the country.

Mr. Kinney, who was one of the founders of FreeMarkets, remained in contact with Mr. Levis and eventually lured him back to Pittsburgh with a job at the firm.

Mr. Levis’ title was chief people officer, meaning he was in charge of human resources. “FreeMarkets was six people in March of ‘95, and we were 1,100 people in 27 offices in March of 2000,” Mr. Kinney said. “So the VP of human resources was a big deal.”

Mr. Levis was involved in the growth of FreeMarkets, but he had interests outside of work, too.

He was a longtime board member of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, where he was involved in the renovation of Schenley Plaza in Oakland.

“His support of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy was unwavering,” said Jenn Dailey, the conservancy’s director of marketing and communications. “We were honored to have him as a board member.”

Ms. Dailey said the transformation of Schenley Plaza from a parking lot into the greenspace it is today was a “momentous occasion” for the conservancy and helped move the city forward in its use of land.

Mr. Levis was an outdoorsman who enjoyed fly fishing and bird hunting. He loved cooking and would read cookbooks in their entirety.

“He was intellectually voracious, not just about cooking,” said Mr. Levis’ sister, Erin Clancy. “He had an incredible breadth of knowledge about any number of topics.”

Mr. Levis is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Levis of Pittsburgh; sons John S. Levis of Boston, Parkman H. Levis of Pittsburgh, and Samuel Q. Levis of Pittsburgh; his mother, Susan Clancy of Sewickley Heights; sisters Helen Morrison of Helena, Mont., Margot Levis Thompson of Portsmouth, N.H., and Erin S. Clancy of Miami; brother Peter H. Clancy of Washington, D.C.; and nieces and nephews.

The family is planning a memorial service for Sunday but details had not been finalized. John A. Freyvogel Sons Inc. was assisting.

The family suggests donations to the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.