Edwin L. Mosley, longtime musician, activist minister, and bridge toll monitor, dies at 66

Edwin L. Mosley, 66, of Camden, a longtime blues and jazz musician, an activist associate minister at Little Rock Baptist Church, and a former toll monitor on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, died Sunday, Jan. 2, of congestive heart failure at Complete Care in Burlington Woods nursing center in Burlington.

A man of many talents and interests, Rev. Mosley wrote blues and jazz tunes. He played harmonica, drums, guitar, and synthesizer, and in the 1980s formed his own group, Edwin Mosley and the Vision Project.

He played at the Walt Whitman Center for the Arts and Humanities on Cooper Street in Camden and elsewhere, and the Daily News in 1986 described him as an “avant-garde pianist.”

In the 1990s, Rev. Mosley became an associate minister at Little Rock Baptist Church and embarked on a 30-year mission to serve others and influence his community for the good. Friends joked that he officiated every marriage in their family, and he mentored other men, often in prisons and hospitals, through the My Brother’s Keeper program.

“He was a humanitarian by his service to the community,” his family wrote in a tribute.

Rev. Mosley also helped establish Camden’s annual Community Fun Day, an event in August or September to celebrate with neighbors and prepare children for their return to school.

“We thank God for Rev. Mosley’s congenial spirit, and we take joy in knowing that the legacy of someone so special is memorialized in the history of the Little Rock Baptist Church and in the hearts of so many in our community!” the church wrote in an online tribute.

For 30 years, beginning in 1983, Rev. Mosley worked on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge as a toll monitor for the Delaware River Port Authority. After he became ordained, he served as the chaplain for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 716 and the Port Authority’s police force.

“He was a very direct person,” said his daughter Rose Mosley-Miller. “He was honest and open and challenged us to be a better person.”

Rev. Mosley was a member of South Jersey’s Powhatan Renape Nation and the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation, and he embraced his Native American heritage by participating in many ceremonies and rituals. He also founded Roadside International, a group that continues to work toward developing parts of Burlington Island in the Delaware River into tribal festival grounds and a learning center.

Known as Running Buffalo, he sang and played drums at many powwows and took his children to the biannual American Indian Arts Festival and other events at the Rankokus Indian Reservation in Westampton.

Born Sept. 18, 1955, in Camden, Rev. Mosley graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1973. He studied English literature and music at Rutgers University-Camden and worked part-time as a substitute teacher for the Camden City School District.

He met art student Carmen Suarez while at college. They married in 1990, had three daughters, and lived in Camden until their divorce in 2000.

During his time off, Rev. Mosley liked to fish and camp, and he traveled to Montana and New Mexico to explore his Native American traditions. He enjoyed being around water, and visited Aruba and other islands.

He collected hats and fine jewelry, was a high roller on the slot machines at the Atlantic City casinos, and cooked a mouthwatering spaghetti and meatballs with Italian sausage and kielbasa.

“He loved his family,” said his daughter Angela.

“He always looked out for others,” said Mosley-Miller. “He was a memorable person.”

In addition to his daughters and former wife, Rev. Mosley is survived by daughters Lotus Mosley-Hines, and Tyisha Carter; son Emmanuel; two grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and other relatives. Three brothers died earlier.

Services were Saturday, Jan 15.