Patrick Bhurman Ervin

Patrick Bhurman Ervin, 98, of Big Rock Camp, Sardis Community, died Saturday, February 7, 2004 in the United Hospital Center following a brief illness. He was born September 4, 1905, in Burnsville, Braxton County, only son of the late James Henry Middleton and Etta Belle Bruffey Ervin. His wife of 66 years, the former Helen Lumma Hibbs, whom he married in 1930, preceded him in death in 1996. Surviving are six daughters, Nancy Lee (Mrs.Charles) Butterfield and Patricia Ann Arters, both of Hinesdale, NH, Etta Jane Purdy of Blacksburg, VA; Barbara Sue (Mrs. Maury) Materazzi of Chantilly, VA; Sandra Helen Rodriguez of San Gabriel, CA; and Mary Merceline (Mrs. Ronald) Murphy of Belmont, WV; eight grandchildren, fifteen great grandchildren, and two great great grandchildren. He is also survived by four sisters, Merceline Allen Stevens, Mary Frances Ervin, and Bonnie Belle Hawkins of Nutter Fort; and Adranetta Bruffey Weimer of Richmond, VA. He was preceded in death by four sisters, Eula Regal Conrad, Ruth Margaret McClung, Clalie Esther Watkins, and Ressie Hester Ervin. A Registered Professional Highway Engineer, Mr. Ervin retired March 16, 1975, as District Engineer, West Virginia Department of Highways, District 7, in Weston, after 37 1/2 years with the organization. He began as Construction Inspector in District 7 of the then State Road Commission of W. Va. in 1937. In 1942 he transferred to District 4 in Clarksburg, where he served as Construction Inspector until March, 1946, when he was assigned to the Materials Section as Materials Field Inspector in Morgantown in charge of field tests for District 6 (Moundsvillle). He returned to District 4 in February, 1947, as Inspector in charge of a construction project on Route 50 in Rowlesburg. From April, 1948 until April, 1950, he was in charge of office engineering in the District 4 construction headquarters. He then served as Bridge Construction Inspector on three bridges in District 4 until April, 1952. In April, 1952, after Mr. Ervin passed the official registration examination, his application for Registered Professional Highway Engineer of West Virginia was approved by the State Registration Board. He became a Senior Inspector in charge of grading, draining and paving and asphaltic paving projects on Route 73 in Marion County, District 4, and then from August, 1953, through 1957 was Junior Highway Engineer in charge of construction of the Clarksburg Expressway. From January, 1957, through April, 1956, he was Construction Engineer in charge of all construction projects in District 4. On May 1, 1965, he was promoted from his position as assistant highway engineer in District 4 Construction Division and transferred to Charleston where he served as Utility Engineer on the Staff of the Director of Construction until April 1, 1969. At that time he became District Engineer in Charge of all highway construction and maintenance in the West Virginia Department of Highways, District 6, Moundsville. On March 1, 1970, he transferred to District 7, Weston, where he served as District Engineer until his retirement in 1975. Mr. Ervin was often heard to remark with a smile that he had wasted the first nine years of his life, adding that he had not started to work until he was 10. The first job was as a water boy the summer of 1916 for his father, who was building a concrete bridge over Olive Branch on Big Rock Camp, less than three miles from where Mr. Ervin purchased the farm where he lived from 1941 onward. As a child, in addition to residing in Braxton County, Mr. Ervin lived in South Charleston for five years, and then for varying periods of time in Cypress, IN, and Henderson, KY, as his father, also an engineer, traveled to different jobs with his young family. In 1915, they came to Harrison County, and thereafter resided in Nutter Fort. Mr. Ervin attended local schools, including Roosevelt Wilson High School through freshman year, where he was on their five-member basketball team and also played baseball, which always remained his favorite team sport. He graduated from Washington Irving High School in 1924. During his summer vacations he had worked for his father on various projects, some contracted by the Patrick Construction Company, which his father had named for him. In 1925-26 he worked on the construction and operation of the Hope Natural Gas Company’s Cornwell Station in Kanawha Co., and in 1926-27 for the Bramham & Edwards Construction Co. in Clarksburg as a foreman in highway construction. He enrolled in West Virginia University in fall 1927 and completed a semester in engineering before returning to work to assist his family. Prior to moving to Big Rock Camp in 1941, he and his wife Helen had lived for nine years with their growing family on the Allen farm on Lambert’s Run, where he raised white faced Hereford cattle. Mr. Ervin loved the land and farming, and until he was in his late eighties continued to put in large vegetable gardens each year. This was a habit begun seventy years earlier helping his mother with her gardening. A lifetime that spans 98 years encompasses a multitude of experiences. Mr. Ervin had greatly enjoyed hunting and fishing ever since he was a child. As a young man he thought nothing of walking twenty or more miles at night when racoon hunting. He once did this on a school night, and the next day his teacher sent him to study hall to complete homework he had neglected. He memorized the whole of Thanatopsis in 45 minutes. Mr. Ervin also became very fond of fox hunting later and delighted in hearing hounds he had raised leading the pack along the rugged hillsides. As nearly as his family can recall, until 1999, when infirmities prevented his going to the polls, Mr. Ervin had never missed voting after he became old enough to do so. He liked to describe himself as a “good feeling Democrat,” an expression he had first heard from his wife’s elderly uncle in 1930. He mentioned to one of his daughters not long ago that he recalled standing in the rain with his father to hear John W. Davis of Clarksburg declare his candidacy for President of the United States in the 1924 election. Through his paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Allen Hite Ervin, Mr. Ervin was a direct descendant of pioneer Joist Hite, who settled over a hundred families on over 100,000 acres in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in the early 1700’s. Mr. Ervin’s family always enjoyed the oral history he recalled hearing about Hite and other ancestors, as well as many entertaining recollections of his childhood. Few people who knew Mr. Ervin have not heard him recite a few lines of poetry, from Shakespearean sonnets to the songs and poems of Robert Burns. Among his other favorite authors were Rudyard Kipling and Alexander Pope. Mr. Ervin also enjoyed the literature of the King James Bible and knew several of the psalms and many other verses by heart. He was a member of the McIntire Fork Baptist Church. Family and friends may call at the Davis Funeral Home, One Olen Thomas Drive, Rt. 98, Clarksburg, from 2:00 to 4:00 and 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, where funeral services will be held on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 at 1:00 p.m. with Elder Dean Harris officiating. Interment will follow in the Stonewall Park Cemetery. In lieu of flowers donations may take the form of contributions to the Nutter Fort Library. Condolences may be extended to the family at www.davisfunerals.com (online obituaries/guest book). Davis Funeral Home.