Earl Melvin Lloyd, a loving father, business man, and real estate worker, dies at 95

Earl Melvin Lloyd, a businessman and real estate worker, died on Thursday, May 26, 2022. He was 95.

He was affectionately known as “Melvin,” “Swell Mel,” “Humble E” and “Pop Pop,” and was born on April 17, 1927, to Elon and Ethel Lloyd in Philadelphia.

Lloyd attended Philadelphia schools and graduated from Bartram High School. He then moved to Washington, D.C., to attend Howard University, graduating in 1948.

While at Howard, his best friend Mustapha Khan was dating Jackie Driver from Philadelphia, who introduced Lloyd to her cousin Alice Lorrain Whitehead. They were married on Sept. 7, 1952. They moved to Nashville, Tennessee, for Lloyd to attend Meharry Medical College.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, he gave up his dream of becoming a doctor, and he and his wife returned to Philadelphia. He joined Alice’s church home, Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Germantown.

Lloyd had various jobs and businesses, mostly in real estate, construction and insurance.

He was unique, quirky and a spiffy dresser. He had a thirst for knowledge and shared that wealth of information with anyone who would listen.

The couple had two daughters, Monique and Beth Anne. He often attended their father-daughter banquets and other school and church events. He also attended every graduation and grandparents’ day for his grandsons from pre-K through college.

He hosted Thanksgiving dinners every year in Philadelphia and traveled to spend Christmas with his grandchildren. He started a tradition of road trips and travel that continued as his family expanded. He was the designated driver for trips down-the-shore to the Atlantic City casinos with his wife and other family members.

Lloyd and his grandson, Phillip, were usually roommates during family trips.

“Vacations were fun, but Pop Pop made them interesting,” Phillip said in a tribute.

His daughters recalled late-night drives to an ice cream shop. They said there was always room in his station wagon for relatives and friends to join his trips to the beach and drive-in movies.

Once he followed a group of young men with big afros to their hotel rooms after they got out of a limo at the Philadelphia Marriott on City Line Avenue. He hurried home to gather his daughters and cousins after realizing they were Michael Jackson and his brothers, and they talked their way into autographs and photos.

“Melvin sucked life dry and lived to its fullest,” his family said in a tribute. “He always told us he would live forever. He believed science would make that possible in his lifetime. He truly learned something new every day of his life.”

He was preceded in death by his wife.

He is survived by his daughters, four grandsons and other family members.

Services will be held on Saturday, June 25, at the Church of St. Martin in the Fields, 8000 St. Martins Lane.

A viewing will be held at 9 a.m. Services will follow at 10 a.m.

Interment is at Ivy Hill Cemetery,

Terry Funeral Home handled the arrangements.