2017 319
Nick ‘Bean’ Richardson, 27: ‘When I look at my grandson, I’m looking at my son’
Back in the day, Nick Richardson knew how to handle the ball. As a star player with his rec center basketball team in Southwest Philly, he helped the team take home so many trophies his mom didn’t know what to do with them. Now the trophies have mostly fallen apart, worn and torn by being […]
James Bolden, 49, ‘superb’ barber who survived near-fatal car crash
James Bolden was a gifted artist — not only on canvas, but on hair too. “He was a superb barber,” said Ernest Rouse, an old friend since grade school. “And when I mean superb, he could have won hair contest.” James and his family lived for a time with Ernest in the 1980s, and Ernest […]
Hugh Certaine, 27: ‘He would never hang up a call without saying I love you’
As soon as “That’s What I Like” played at a family event, you’d see Hugh Arthur Certaine Jr. look over towards his mom, Geraldine Nelson, motioning her to dance to their favorite song. Whether it was cracking jokes about being short, making silly faces or attempting to dance, all Hugh ever wanted to do was […]
Jahsun Patton, 18, college-bound football player, actor who ‘had that success thing’
No matter how late Jahsun Ahmad Patton stayed up at night, he still made sure he was up in time to make the long trip from his Northeast Philadelphia home to Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia Charter School in West Philadelphia. “I would hear him still up at 2 a.m., then I’d hear him closing the […]
Juwan Evans, 23, launched a clothing line with dreams for a store
At age 23, Juwan Donte Evans had left his past behind him and putting his energy into something positive: A clothing line. “He changed his life and he got himself together and that’s how he created Blockworks,” said his mother, Tiffany Hudson. “He went from the block to working and started selling clothes.” Juwan sold […]
Michael Strong, 21, would give the shirt off his own back, or even a TV
If a friend needed something and Michael Strong Jr. could provide it, he’d do so happily. When he was in high school, Michael’s friends would converge on their home in North Philadelphia after his mother, Sylvia Murray, left for work, and Michael would make breakfast for everyone using food from Sylvia’s last grocery haul. Sometimes […]
Elba Monroig, 61, loving, caring and independent
Elba Monroig had been fiercely independent all of her life. And when her diabetes left her confined to a wheelchair and partially blind, that didn’t change. “She wanted to do everything on her own, and we knew she couldn’t because of her condition, so she would become very stubborn,” said Elba’s youngest sister, Maria Rosario. […]
Kierra Johnson, 21, art student who loved to dance in the rain with her mother
Kierra Roberta Jeanette Johnson was an “ever-changing chameleon,” her mother Ree Johnson said while sitting in her parents’ living room in Upper Darby. She cycled through different hair colors — pink, blue, purple and white — and different styles, from a mohawk to dreadlocks. One day Ree and Kierra met up at the dollar store […]
Zakiyy Allford, 20, hoped to attend culinary school, open a business with his grandmother
Not every 20-year-old wants to open up a business with their grandmother, but Zakiyy Yasir Allford wasn’t just anyone. “I cook, my mother could cook, my grandmother could cook,” Zakiyy’s grandmother, Sonya Dixon, listed off. “We come from a long line of cooks.” Zakiyy inherited the family talent and was putting his life together, dreaming […]
Mikhaul Armstead, 23, a ‘mama’s boy’ who excelled in the boxing ring
After overcoming some challenges in life — dyslexia, being sent to live in Western Pennsylvania when his mother was sick, brushes with the law — Mikhaul Samir Armstead was finally on the right path. He was making a name for himself in the world of boxing and was training night and day. Every morning, he […]
Tymier Fraiser, 14, a talented boxer looking forward to eighth grade graduation—and Disney
Tymier Frasier’s life was about to change. He was scheduled to graduate from eighth grade in a few weeks and start high school in the fall, which meant new friends, new classes and a different routine. But first, he and his family were headed to Disney World for a week. None of it would ever […]
James Kennedy, 22, a proud father who planned a career in HVAC
James Javar “JJay” Kennedy was always running late. He would say he’d be somewhere in five minutes, and show up hours later. The birth of his daughter Myla in May 2016 changed that. “It made him more mature. He had to grow up,” his sister Marquita Kennedy said. “He became more effective, he became more […]
Lylliana Mendoza, 35, dreamed of a better life
Lylliana Mendoza was always smiling and laughing, but her sister said it was to hide her pain. Lily, as everyone called her, had been a victim of domestic violence at the hands of the man she lived with in Fairhill for about three years, according to her sister, Alexandra Mendoza. During the summer of 2017, […]
Tyrese Johnson, 17, ‘a Shark for life’
A gown and tassel were awaiting Tyrese Johnson in a few short months. He was counting down the final months of his senior year of high school, with his graduation seeming like the only thing in his way. After that momentous day, he would head to college with a full-ride scholarship. What would have been […]
Debra Gulliver, 33, caring friend who struggled to find peace
Debra Gulliver’s life could be divided into two parts: Before her father’s death and after. Her early years were happy ones. She was born July 6, 1983, in Delaware County, and nine months later, her family moved to the Jersey Shore. Debra enjoyed all that the shore had to offer. “She has always loved the […]
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