Worldly Merrill Stayed True to Annapolis Area

PHILLIP MERRILL (By Diana Walker -- Washingtonian)

Some recall him at local events such as the annual Hospice Cup on the Chesapeake Bay or the Annapolis Rotary Club's annual crab feast. Others remember seeing him sitting under a tent with his wife at games at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Many automatically think of his name and image at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Philip Merrill Environmental Center, or of his work as the Annapolis-based publisher of the local Capital newspaper and Washingtonian magazine.

No matter how prominent the late businessman Phillip Merrill was in the Washington area, his presence was most felt in Annapolis. Merrill, an apparent suicide, disappeared more than a week ago while sailing alone on his boat, the Merrilly, and his body was found drifting southwest of Poplar Island by a boater Monday.

Mary P. Felter, community news editor at the Capital, said Merrill knew he couldn't fund every local need, so he opened up the community listings in the newspaper to give free publicity to groups and causes he felt were worthy.

He encouraged the Home of the Week feature in the paper, said Fran Jaques, a longtime employee there, because he knew just what interested people in Annapolis.

"This was how he supported the community with the paper," Felter said. "That's why we have a community orientation to our paper. A large part of what we do is local, local, local, and it's because of him."

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation's environmental center is named after Merrill, an honorary trustee on the board, for his longtime commitment to the organization. And when news of his disappearance broke, foundation staff members used their own boats to search for him and alerted fishermen and sailing groups along the bay to keep an eye out.

"A lot of people responded just amazingly," said John Page Williams, senior naturalist at the foundation. "That resulted in an army of people just looking out. They knew who to call, and they knew not to touch the body."

Williams said it was only natural for the foundation's staff members to get involved in the search, and he said he couldn't say enough good things about Merrill.

"For all of us, he represents an inspiration." Williams said. "He's absolutely the embodiment of 'Think globally, act locally.' "

At the Anne Arundel Medical Center, Merrill didn't hesitate to offer funds to assist friends or relatives or for medical or educational causes, Felter said.

Lisa Hillman, executive director of the Anne Arundel Medical Center Foundation, said: "Phil Merrill was clearly a man of the world, but he was good to the causes he cared about close to home as well. He was a generous supporter of Anne Arundel Medical Center's nursing programs and capital campaigns, always telling us to spend the money where it was needed, when it was needed. More recently, he expressed interest in learning more about the hospital's future expansion plans."

With the Hospice Cup, Merrill was a fundraiser and gave managerial advice and media exposure to the event in its earliest stages, said former president Dick Ladd. The boat race now takes in a half-million dollars annually for its charitable causes, which include Hospice of the Chesapeake and Calvert Hospice.

"I remember going up to tell him thank you," said Cullen Murray, the Hospice Cup's president, recalling an encounter with Merrill about three years ago. "He set the standard for generosity in our community."

Friends and colleagues said he made his home in Arnold a refuge from his busy professional life. Known to throw social events at his home that attracted the likes of Vice President Cheney and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Merrill was as likely to invite his employees and local residents over to his home to "just to sit around on the deck and talk," Felter said.

"Phil was actually kind of a homebody, and that was a resting place for him," said Gary Jobson, a sailing commentator for ESPN who described himself as one of Merrill's sailing friends over the years.

Jobson said Merrill, who was 72 at the time of his death, brought passion and personal investment to all his activities and interests in the Annapolis area.

"He had his finger on the pulse of Annapolis as much as anybody," Jobson said.