Johnnie Erving Sr., retired Philadelphia police officer and devoted father, dies at 95

Johnnie Erving Sr., 95, of West Philadelphia, a retired police officer and a World War II veteran, died Saturday, July 25, of cancer at Pennsylvania Hospital.

Mr. Erving was born in 1925 in Burke County, Ga., not far from Augusta, where his family worked as sharecroppers. Mr. Erving credited his mother with pushing him to go to school over the objections of the farm owner, who wanted him to work in the fields.

He attended Boggs Academy, a private school established for Black children after the Civil War. He had to walk five miles to get the bus to take him there, said daughter Delores J. Brown.

Mr. Erving showed his independent spirit at an early age by changing his name while in grade school. His parents were Alice Stokes and Arcy Irvin. But he altered his last name to Erving because his father was not active in his life. As an adult, he reconnected with his father.

Mr. Erving began a lifelong fascination with cars as a boy. When the farm owner asked him if he wanted a car, however, he said no. “He told us if he had gotten a car from that man, he would never get away from Georgia. He would never finish paying for it,” Brown said.

His family said he hated the oppressive life of segregation and farm work so much that he often looked up at the night sky and pleaded, “Lord, please let me get out of here.”

When he was 16, an aunt living in Philadelphia invited Mr. Erving to travel north, and he later told his children, “I got on the first train smokin'.”

He arrived in Philadelphia without finishing high school and immediately found work. Jobs were easy to find in a city with factories then. After a few years, he was drafted into the Army during World War II and served in China, Burma, and India.

He later told his children how angry he was, upon his return to Fort Gordon, Ga., that he faced discrimination even while in uniform. “Can you imagine?” they said he told them. “I’m fighting for this country, and a German prisoner of war gets taken to the restaurant to sit at the counter to eat a meal, and I was told to go to the back door to get mine.”

After the Army, Mr. Erving married Juanita Griffin, also from Georgia. They moved to Philadelphia and had six children. Mr. Erving drove a cab and held various jobs until he joined the Police Department in 1955 at age 30. He later worked as a plainclothes officer.

He cared about being a good police officer, his daughter said. “One of the things he was most proud of was that he never had to fire his gun,” Brown said. “He was good at negotiating and smoothing out a situation.”

His first marriage ended in divorce, and Mr. Erving had three sons with companion Helen Crute. He later married Ellen Coleman, with whom he had a daughter. That marriage also ended in divorce.

“He was a great father,” said son John Jr. “He provided for all the kids. He was involved in our lives. He motivated us to do the best we could.”

Mr. Erving was a trustee emeritus and served on the usher board at Mount Carmel Baptist Church. He also enjoyed entertaining family and friends, and taking long drives to Florida and Canada.

In addition to his daughter and son, Mr. Erving is survived by sons Gregory Erving, Odell Erving, Arcy Crute, Michael Crute, and John Johnson; daughters Veronica Erving and Andrea Johnson; 30 grandchildren, more than 25 great- and great-great grandchildren; and other relatives. His former wives predeceased him. A son, Zachary, died in infancy.

A private graveside service is set for Thursday, Aug. 6.