Word has been received via David Mott of the passing of William “Bill” H. Merrill on July 17, 2011, at the Grand Rapids (Michigan) House for Veterans. After graduation from Yale Law School Bill returned to Detroit to practice law. In 1961 he was appointed chief assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit and spent the next five years prosecuting major federal criminal cases, involving mail fraud, tax evasion, labor racketeering and organized crime. In 1966 he was a candidate for Congress. This and other political activity led to his becoming chairman of Citizens for Robert Kennedy in Michigan in 1968.


In May 1973 he applied for a job with the special Watergate prosecutor, Archibald Cox, and was put in charge of a team investigating the White House Plumbers. Directing attorneys and assistants, Bill constructed cases against John Ehrlichman, Charles Colson and G. Gordon Liddy, won every case against the plumbers and put them all away. Bill later wrote a book, at the age of 83, titled Watergate Prosecutor. At this point Bill had lost the use of his voice and right hand due to a stroke.


The class mini-reunion was held at the Norwich Inn October 18 and 19. Present were Peter Beck, Dick Gilman, Bill Swartzbaugh, Dick “Bull” Hinman, Craig Cain, Rosalie Cutter, Vesta Smith and Matthew Marshall.It was voted to invite the class of 1943 to join us for a mini-reunion in October since we are both moving closer to the front of the DAM.


—Rosalie Cutter, 14 Sterling Springs Drive, White River Junction, VT 05001; rosalie.45a@alum. dartmouth.org