Howard Merker reported for jury duty a few yearsago in the same Baltimore County courthouse where he spent most of his career as a prosecutor.
Everyone figured he would be struck from the shoplifting case, his wife Barbara recalls. But just his luck ? the defense attorney kept Merker on, saying, “We know you?re always fair.”
Merker died in late June in a New Jersey hospice after battling stomach cancer for more than a year, his wife said. He was buried on June 30, their 49th wedding anniversary. Merker, who prosecuted thousands of cases and trained scores of young lawyers in nearly 30 years at the Baltimore County State?s Attorney?s Office, was 75.
“The biggest impact he had was on all these young attorneys ? probably some of the best criminal lawyers in Maryland,” Baltimore County Circuit Judge Dana Levitz said.
“The State?s Attorney?s Office is such an important office to begin with,” said Gerald Ruter, an attorney who worked with Merker as a young prosecutor. “But there always needs to be kind of a head of state ? and that?s who Howard was.”
Merker grew up in Baltimore and received three diplomas in the area. He went to high school at Baltimore City College, graduated from Loyola College and got his law degree in 1958 from the University of Baltimore, his wife said.
He followed Sandra Day O?Connor from the State?s Attorney?s Office in Baltimore City to the county office in 1975, when she took over the top post. He mainly focused on auto manslaughter cases ? which Levitz said are among the most gruesome and wrenching ? in addition to close work with junior prosecutors.
Barbara Merker said she finally realized how beloved her husband was at work when he retired in 2002, and a party for him at Oregon Ridge was packed with his friends from the legal community. He wouldn?t have retired but for health problems, she said, and he quickly delved into volunteer work in New Jersey, where they moved to be near their two daughters.
“People just absolutely loved Howard,” said O?Connor, recalling his retirement party. “A lot of the assistants that had worked in the office and moved on ? a lot of people came back to say thank you.”
In addition to his wife and daughters, Merker is survived by four grandchildren who called him Cookie, because of his infamous impression of the Cookie Monster.
