By Carter Dewees
For The Birmingham Times
Growing up as the youngest of six siblings in Birmingham’s Collegeville community, Derrick Ervin had one hero his dad.
“He would wake up at two in the morning and [after work] be back in the community by six in the evening to organize a team-sports event,” said Ervin.
His father was his “Superman,” an important figure in Collegeville community and the representation of what manhood meant to Ervin. He would watch his dad get up in the early hours of the morning to drive a truck and return later in the day to coach and mentor children. When his dad died abruptly, Ervin was 10, and he had a difficult time squaring the death of his father with his belief in God.