Michael Shelton Lockwood, 60, marketing expert
He took a special interest in helping young people
MICHAEL LOCKWOOD was one of those guys who never forgot a name or a face.
A lot of people claim that talent, but Michael really lived it. If you met him 20 years ago and ran into him recently, he would call you by your name and greet you like a long lost pal.
Michael put this ability to work when he joined various companies with strong retail components - the American Tobacco Co., the Bose Corp. and Creative Channel Retail Markets.
His duties included going to stores and other outlets for the products and often training workers on the best ways to sell them.
Michael Shelton Lockwood, who used his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi, and other organizations to carry out his civic duties, died Dec. 23. He was 60 and lived in West Conshohocken.
He began his spiritual journey at St. Monica's Episcopal Church, where he served as an altar boy.
Michael, a ball of energy who couldn't sit still for very long - unless it was in the stands at games of his beloved Eagles - had a special interest in helping young people get ahead and fulfill their destinies.
He was an active member of the Sunday Morning Crew in Willow Grove, consisting of guys who met Sunday mornings to play basketball, and who one day decided to pool their brains and resources to help young people.
They raised funds and found ways to provide scholarships to high school graduates in eight schools throughout Philadelphia and Montgomery County - kids who couldn't otherwise afford higher education.
It was just one way Michael found to fulfill his need to be of service to others.
"Michael, in constant motion, found he always wanted to have activity in his life," said his wife, the former Shirley Duckett. "He was always there when someone needed something. He especially wanted to encourage young people and did all he could for them.
"He knew everybody and everybody liked him. He was just a good man."
Michael was an only child, born in Philadelphia to Althea Knight and the late Walter Lockwood. He attended Tuskegee University in Alabama, and received a bachelor's degree in marketing.
His energy and winning personality made him an asset to a number of large corporations.
"Because of his love for people, and his interaction with them, he found his place in life," his family said.
"When he became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Philadelphia Alumni Chapter, he found a place where he could incorporate all of his passion and commitment to community service and to mentoring youth," his family said. He became a member of the fraternity's executive board.
Michael married Rhonda Owens in 1979, and to this union was born his only child, daughter Erica Joy. "Erica was his joy," his family said. "He could never speak enough about his love for her, and how proud he was of her accomplishments."
He later married Shirley Duckett, and they shared a passion for sports, especially the Eagles. They held season tickets for many years.
They also traveled widely, throughout the United States and the Caribbean and South America. Michael found Aruba to be "the place he most loved and thought to be like a second home," his family said.
Michael was always the life of the party. He had a knack for finding just the right music to fit whatever the occasion was, birthday, holidays, even funerals.
"He could find music that no one else had ever heard, but that was perfect for the event," his family said.
Michael also had a passion for current happenings and read three newspapers every day, along with news magazines and trade publications dealing with advancements in new technologies. He was plugged into the History Channel and Public Broadcasting to feed his lust for knowledge.
He was proud of his wife's father, Mahlon Duckett, a legendary member of the Philadelhia Stars of the Negro National League, who died in July at the age of 92.
"Michael lived life to the fullest, with joy, happiness and exuberance," his family said.
Besides his wife and daughter, now Dr. Erica Child, he is survived by his mother, Althea Knight, and two grandchildren.
Services: Were Saturday. Burial was private.
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