Sultan Ahmad, former city official who started a foundation for youth after his son’s murder, dies at 73

Sultan Ahmad, 73, a former executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Community Services who later was the acting executive director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, died Thursday, Nov. 25, at his Philadelphia home.

The family did not provide the cause of death.

Mr. Ahmad spent 24 years working for the city. As head of the mayor’s community services office, he administered the Foster Grandparents Program, and other initiatives serving single mothers, homeless men, and young people.

Ahmad was also known for cofounding in 1993 with his wife, Harriett, the Sultan Jihad Ahmad Community Foundation, named after their 15-year-old son who was shot and killed on April 20, 1992.

In a 2018 Inquirer story, the Ahmads estimated they had awarded $350,000 in scholarships based on essays on preventing violence.

In addition to scholarships, the foundation provided education and job training to young people. It held GED and computer literacy classes, and provided a food pantry, a culinary arts center, and a carpentry program.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the foundation sponsored an annual Mothers’ Prayer Breakfast for Peace for women who lost children to violence, which was held on the anniversary of the date of Sultan Jihad Ahmad’s death.

In later years, Mr. Ahmad spent most of his time devoted to the community foundation’s offices at 1901 W. Oxford St.

“After he retired, he threw himself into the foundation, raising money for scholarships and for completing the renovation of the center,” Harriett Ahmad said.

In his younger years, Mr. Ahmad was active with the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. He learned about the group after he left Philadelphia to attend college at the University of California at Berkeley. He was later a leader of the Philadelphia Black Panther chapter.

In California, Mr. Ahmad managed fellow Black Panther Bobby Seale’s campaign for mayor of Oakland in 1973.

Seale won the second-highest number of votes, but lost in a runoff with incumbent Mayor John Reading.

Harriett Ahmad said her husband loved politics and was also involved in helping to elect former Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode.

“If you call political science a hobby, that was his hobby,” she said. “All he ever knew was politics. He also liked to watch boxing matches. He had a program on WURD [Radio] about boxing for a long time.”

Barbara Easley Cox, also a former member of the Black Panthers in Philadelphia, said Mr. Ahmad was “just a good person.”

“It’s a great loss to this city and the many people that he helped over the years,” said Easley Cox. “I consider him a servant of the people for his many activities.”

Mr. Ahmad was born in Philadelphia as Herman Smith on Jan. 6, 1948, to Emmet Smith and Etta Neal. He was the third of five children and grew up in South and North Philadelphia.

He graduated from Edison High School in 1966 and attended college in Berkeley.

When he returned to Philadelphia, he eventually began working in politics.

He met his future wife at Masjid Muhammad on Broad Street in 1975, she said. They were married the following February and had three children.

Mr. Ahmad also had three children from an earlier relationship.

After retiring from city government, Mr. Ahmad was active on several boards and community groups, including the Universal Charter School and the Victims Services Advisory Committee.

He received numerous awards, among them the Governor’s Award, the Korean American Community Service Award, and the Philadelphia Urban League Father of the Year Award, his family said.

Mr. Ahmad attended the White House Conference on Youth Violence and received President Clinton’s Anti-Youth Violence Appreciation Letter.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Ahmad is survived by his children Yolanda Small, Erica Small, Samir Ahmad, and Tyrese Wiggins; 20 grandchildren; four sisters, and many other relatives and friends. One of his daughters, Qimmah Ahmad, died earlier this year.

A Janazah prayer service was held Monday, Nov. 29, at the Liacouras Center.