Robert Marvin Ervin (1917-2014) Marion County, FL

Robert Marvin Ervin

Robert Marvin Ervin, age 97, of Tallahassee, Florida, died at home on February 5, 2014, after a brief illness. The son of a school teacher and the fifth of seven children, he was born January 19, 1917, in Fellowship, Marion County, Florida, to Richard William Ervin and Carrie Phillips Ervin.
Ervin attended Leon High School in Tallahassee, and graduated with a BS in business administration from the University of Florida in1941, where he was a member of Blue Key. That same year, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, attended Officer Candidate School, and was commissioned Second Lieutenant at Quantico, Virginia.
On December 25, 1941, just prior to his departure for service in the Pacific, he married Frances Anne Cushing, who would be his wife for 65 years until her death in 2007. Upon his return from active duty as a Major, he received his LLB from the University of Florida, and began his law practice in Tallahassee in 1947, where he founded the firm that would become Ervin, Varn, Jacobs, Odom& Kitchen, and is now known as Ervin, Kitchen & Ervin.
Ervin continued his service in the United States Marine Corps Reserve until his honorable discharge at the age of 60 in 1977, with the rank of Colonel. Ervin's many contributions to the legal profession include serving as President of the Tallahassee Bar Association, and being an ardent supporter of the Tallahassee Bar's provision of pro bono legal services to those in need.
The Lawyers' Commons in the Leon County Court House is named in his honor. He served as President of the Florida Bar in 1965-66, and served as the Federal Bankruptcy Referee for the Northern District of Florida for many years. He was one of the drafters of Florida's 1968 Constitution, and a drafter of important legislation, including the Condominium Act. He was for many years a member of the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association, and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the National College of Criminal Defense Lawyers, among numerous other organizations devoted to the betterment of the legal profession.
While serving in the Pacific during World War II, Ervin responded to a letter he had received from the Mayor of Tallahassee, as follows: "Mail travels slowly here in the South West Pacific.
Consequently I find myself tardy in acknowledging your very welcome letter. It means a great deal to me, and to those here with me, to know that you at home are thinking of us, and that you have an interest in our activities and well-being. As you know, we are only doing what any real American should be glad to do - contributing our small part in the great struggle.
Of our ultimate victory, I am sure there can be no doubt." Ervin was pre-deceased by his parents; by his brothers Richard, Mabry and Benjamin; and by his sisters Mary Pennington and Carolyn Hand. He is survived by his sister Ruth Davis; by his daughter Anne Ervin Rowe (Lamar), and his son Robert M. Ervin Jr. (Hillary); by his grandchildren Henry Lamar Rowe Jr. (Susan), Elizabeth Rowe Lewis (Lansing), Mary Francis Rowe Andree (Kyle), Matthew Cushing Ervin, Daniel Throop Ervin and Tova Rebecca Ervin; and by his great grandchildren, Jack Henry Rowe, Ella Grace Lewis, Lansing Marcus Lewis IV and Amelia Anne Lewis, and by numerous nieces and nephews.
The funeral service will at the First Baptist Church of Tallahassee, 108 West College Avenue, on Monday, February 10, at 2 P.M., with interment immediately following at Oakland Cemetery, 838 North Bronough Street, and a reception, immediately following interment, at the Carriage House of the Goodwood Museum and Gardens, 1600 Miccosukee Road.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Frances Cushing Ervin Professorship in English of the Florida State University, which can be made online at foundation.fsu.edu, or by mail to the FSU Foundation, P.O. Box 3062739, Tallahassee, FL 32306-2739; or to the Legal Aid Foundation of the Tallahassee Bar Association, 301 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/tallahassee/obituary.aspx?n=robert-ervi...