ST. TAMMANY PARISH, LA. 

Obituary for: 

Submitted by: Louis Lavedan. 

Source: St. Tammany News (Covington, LA)

Published Wednesday, April 13, 2011

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Ervin

Lloyd Douglas Ervin, a U.S. Navy veteran, artist, author and lifelong teacher, 
died April 8, 2011, of heart failure at his home in Slidell. He was 81.

A man of uncommon curiosity and an irrepressible teacher, he schooled himself in 
many diverse subjects and eagerly shared his knowledge, hoping to inspire those 
around him.

His professional life, which he described as "no career at all, really," was 
peppered with jobs teaching ballroom dance, photography, Latin, history and 
creative writing. He studied, and then taught American Sign Language, Spanish, 
archery, boxing and martial arts, among other subjects. He also enjoyed flying 
and earned his pilot's license in 1974.

Not all of Ervin's professional work involved teaching. As a young man, he 
traveled extensively through the United States selling books for McGraw-Hill, 
magazine subscriptions and also machine parts. He was also a social worker, a 
business owner, a traveling motel manager, and a crewman and captain-in-training 
aboard Gulf Coast supply boats.

Ervin was born in Tiptonville, Tenn., Dec. 9, 1929, to Flossye Mae Lee, a 
telephone operator, and Franklin Malchi Ervin, an advance man for a traveling 
carnival. He never met his father, who died of tuberculosis while traveling in 
Texas.

After graduating from Tiptonville High School in 1948, Ervin enlisted in the 
U.S. Navy, where he served until 1952, primarily as a photographer's mate aboard 
the USS San Pablo.

In 1960 he graduated from Memphis State University with a major in English and a 
minor in history, after earning his tuition by learning and then teaching 
ballroom dance. It was at the Arthur Murray dance studio in Memphis where he met 
and fell in love with Shirley Parkerson. They married in 1957 and began raising 
a family.

After teaching English at Christian Brothers College, work led the family from 
Memphis to Mississippi, with stops in Jackson and Calhoun City, but the Ervins 
settled for many years in Montgomery County, living in Winona and also in the 
home they built near Pine Bluff.

Ervin taught Latin, creative writing, photography and boxing at Winona Christian 
School, then known as Winona Academy, and the family also owned and operated 
Ervin's Convenience Corner for several years.

When fire destroyed their home in 1977, the Ervins began a stint as traveling 
motel managers until Ervin suffered a major heart attack in 1980 and moved first 
to New Orleans and then to Slidell.

Perhaps Ervin's most avid creative avocation was art, and throughout his life he 
filled canvases, sketch books and family members' walls with drawings and 
paintings. He favorite subjects were still life's, the human form and history, 
and he especially enjoyed creating scenes from the Civil War. Despite his 
advancing heart disease and a recent diagnosis of lymphoma, Ervin continued his 
creative endeavors until his final days. Last year, at age 80, he published his 
first book, "Evy," a fictionalized memoir of his early life as a young man. He 
completed a second manuscript, a biblical study, and was working on his third 
book until a week before his death.

Ervin is survived by his wife, Shirley Parkerson Ervin, of Slidell; children 
William Trent Ward of Brookline, Mass., Elizabeth Anne Ervin of Deerfield Beach, 
Fla., and Charles Douglas Ervin of Oakland, Calif.; brothers Billy Charles Shaw 
of St. Robert, Mo., and Ronald Smythe Shaw of Tuscumbia, Ala.; and grandchildren 
Nicholas Ward, John Ward, Olivia Ward, Marine Second Lt. Alexander Puente and 
Marine Lance Cpl. Erik Puente. Also survived by five nieces and nephews. He was 
preceded in death by his father, Frank Ervin, in 1929, his mother, Flossye Shaw, 
in 2002, his stepfather, Leslie Shaw, in 1979, and his brother Joe Ervin in 
1996.

A memorial service for Ervin is planned for April 30, at the Slidell Church of 
Christ, 11 a.m. Serenity Funeral Home of Covington is handling the arrangements. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Ervin's name to the Slidell 
Church of Christ, 994 Old Spanish Trail, Slidell, LA 70458, or to the American 
Cancer Society Patrick F. Taylor Hope Lodge, 2609 River Road, New Orleans, LA 
70121.
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