With a goofy grin, Cobb County Deputy Marshall Samual Ervin Jr. proudly held up the huge fish he’d caught. It was a bass he’d worked for three years to catch, so he had to share the photo, his supervisor said.
Hours later, Ervin was killed while attempting to serve an arrest warrant. He was 38.
At Ervin’s funeral Thursday at West Ridge Church in Dallas, Lt. Christopher Ledger said he’ll choose to remember Ervin the way he looked in the picture.
“He lived for his family and their softball games and he lived for fishing,” Ledger said.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Ervin was married to his high school sweetheart. He and Jodi met at East Paulding High School and began dating when they were 17, his wife said in a letter read during the service. In addition to Jodi Ervin, the deputy is survived by daughters Mayleigh and Kourtlee.
“Marshall was the greatest man I have ever known,” his widow’s letter said. “I do not say that as a figure of speech, I mean that in a very literal way. There is not a human I’ve ever met who was as good as him, that would do anything for anyone. Patient. Kind. Generous. He was every good thing in this world.”
A 2002 high school graduate, Ervin joined the sheriff’s office 10 years later. Serving the community was a job he loved, and Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens said Ervin was known for handing out Frisbees and sidewalk chalk to children he came across on the job.
Recently while working, Ervin was able to help an autistic child, West Ridge Pastor Brian Bloye said. When he wasn’t working, Ervin kept his freezer stocked with Popsicles to hand out weekly to the kids who lived in his neighborhood.
“He was a blessing to us all,” Owens said. “Deputy Marshall Ervin, thank you for being such a bright light for the sheriff’s office. Your sheriff salutes you.”
It was the second funeral in as many days attended by the sheriff. On Wednesday, the funeral was held for Deputy Jonathan Koleski, also killed on Sept. 8 in a west Cobb neighborhood.
“Deputies Koleski and Ervin were partners,” Owens said. “They are both deserving of every honor and recognition we can give them.”
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
Little was said about the incident that took the lives of the deputies. Koleski and Ervin were attempting to serve a warrant on a suspect when another man, Christopher Golden, shot them both, according to investigators. He remains in custody and faces murder and other charges.
“That wicked man will not take anything else from me or my men, that’s my promise,” Ledger said. “He took two of my best friends. He took two great family men. He gets nothing else from us.”
Photos shown during the service showed Marshall Ervin in grade school, as a high school graduate and with his wife and girls.
“You didn’t have to be around Marshall very long to know that his passions were playing guitar, fishing, and being outside with his wife and daughters,” Bloye said.
Ervin is also survived by three siblings and their families along with nieces, nephews and extended family members.
After the service, many gathered with American flags as the procession returned to Mayes Ward-Dobbins Funeral Home in Marietta.
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