Joseph "Joe" N. Ermer came from a close family and like many young people at Charles O. Dewey Junior High School, 4th street, Brooklyn, New York, turned to sports as a way to bond, advance and stay out of trouble.Some of Joe's friends and fellow competitors during this time were Ralph Shaw, Lenny Cooper (the local "star pitcher"), Kermit Robinson, and Willy Panerelli.
"When we played sandlot baseball, it really was a corner lot," Joe Ermer recalled in 2012. "It was not a good idea to slide because there was lots of broken glass and other sharp garbage. But then of course, if it was a close game, the kids would always push the envelope. Then we'd go home and have to explain to our folks why we were so scraped up.
We played a lot of sports, anything to pass the time. Football: whenever someone was was tackled, this was in the park where there wasn't any broken glass, someone would yell 'pile-on!' -- it almost
Joe would later apply his love of sports, outdoors and athleticism to the Boy Scouts and eventually would evolve his learnings into survival skills during WWII.
Stay tuned for more on the life of Joe Ermer, a true friend; one of the true class acts and kind souls you could hope to know.
Joseph "Joe" N. Ermer Memoirs (click links below to view/hear):
Celebration of Life: Joseph N. Ermer
Celebration of life: early childhood: Joseph N. Ermer
Celebration of Life: sports in the early years: Joseph N. Ermer
Celebration of Life: early years: Boy Scouts: Joseph N. Ermer
Celebration of Life: WWII part one: Joseph N. Ermer
Celebration of Life: WWII part two: Joseph N. Ermer
Celebration of Life: WWII part three: Joseph N. Ermer
Celebration of Life: WWII part four: Joseph N. Ermer
