A Glen Mills man who grew up under Jim Crow laws in Memphis and went on to become a professor, department chairman and football coach at Cheyney University, has died from COVID-19, writes Gary Miles for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Julius B. Flynn Jr., 78, died Friday, Jan. 8, at Riddle Memorial Hospital.

He grew up in Memphis, Tennessee in the 1940s and ‘50s and spent his life battling bigotry, mentoring others to achieve their personal and academic potential.

 He was a 42-year football coach at Cheyney, as well as chairman of the department of health, physical education and recreation.

He also served as interim vice president for student affairs. He was inducted into the Cheyney Hall of Fame in 2005.

He was the first African American to teach and coach at the secondary level, working in 1966 at Sandusky High School in Ohio.

He started at Cheyney in 1969 as a football coach and assistant physical education professor.

He married Dr. Joan Duvall-Flynn, past president of NAACP Pennsylvania.

 “His passion was to develop human potential,” his wife said. “Several of his former players and students said he was the father they never knew.”

Read more about Dr. Julius Flynn at The Philadelphia Inquirer.