Murvin Lackey, 77, former chairman of Philabundance
Murvin Lackey grew up poor in Lincoln Heights, Ohio and became a highly successful logistics expert in Philadelphia whose best known contribution to the city was as head of the board at Philabundance.
Murvin Lackey, 77, a logistics expert at several Fortune 100 companies, who rose out of a childhood in poverty and later spent years as chair of the nonprofit Philabundance, died at Pennsylvania Hospital June 26 of lung disease.
Mr. Lackey, formerly of Newtown Square, worked for 30 years in business logistics at several Fortune 100 companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, Amco and Digital Equipment Corp. Most recently before retiring in 2015, he was a consultant at PRWT Services.
Mr. Lackey learned the business of logistics in the Air Force, while stationed at the Pentagon and Andrews Air Force Base. He earned an MBA from the University of Denver in 1979 and subsequently graduated from General Electric’s management development program.
He joined the board of Philabundance in 2010 and served as chair from 2014 to 2017. His experience in logistics helped expand the nonprofit’s reach to under-served communities, current chair Glenn Bergman said.
“I once asked him why he spent so much time on this volunteer position,” Bergman said. “He told me, ‘Glenn, when I was growing up in Ohio, there was no food in the cabinet.’” Bergman recalled being very taken aback to hear of his friend’s upbringing. "Here’s this very distinguished, very accomplished business person who you would never have known that about. He didn’t talk about it much. He was a very private person, but he worked very hard at what he did.”
Philadelphia Commerce Director Harold Epps worked for Lackey at the Digital Equipment Corp. when Epps was in his mid-20s. Years later, Lackey would work for Epps as a consultant at PRWT, one of the largest minority-owned firms in the United States.
“He was a mentor, an adviser and a dear friend," Epps said. “And he always had my back.”
As the first African American chairman at Philabundance, Lackey brought a critical perspective to the board, said Alan Casnoff, a real estate developer and former chairman. Casnoff said Lackey’s logistics background expanded the organization’s reach by cutting down the number of constituent agencies that distributed food from about 500 to 350.
“Murvin’s feeling was what we really needed to do was focus on those that had the greatest opportunity to do the most good.”
Lackey met his wife, Donna Cochrane, on an afternoon in Philadelphia 18 years ago. He had stopped into the Bellevue to get a manicure at a spa where Cochrane was working. “He was a very charismatic and charming person and he just — I don’t know how quite to explain it," Cochrane said. “We just kind of hit it off.”
The couple volunteered with the homeless at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion at 21st and Chestnut. They also enjoyed going to the concerts of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Lackey was an avid golfer.
Cochrane and Lackey’s union was a second marriage for both of them.
In addition to his wife, Lackey is survived by three children: Michele, Murvin and Myrna; two stepchildren, Kristi D’Amore and Stephen Cochran, six grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. He is also survived by two sisters, Evelyn Nelson and Helen Williams, both of Lincoln Heights, Ohio, along with many nieces and nephews.
Services will be held on July 2 at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion, 2110 Chestnut St, Philadelphia. Calling hours will be from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. The service will be at 11 a.m. Contributions in his memory can be made to Philabundance, 3616 Galloway St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19148.