William Merrick

Bill - Dr. Merrick - was a friend, as well as an expert. He and I shared many moments together which did NOT concern law and deviancy. And the two things that shone through most were his deep, deep compassion for humans, all sorts and sizes, as well as his understated yet wicked sense of humor. I have laughed and cried many times since learning last week of his passing. As a legal system are worse off without his insights and his professional compassion, and yet, he made our system better, far better, with his work. He was widely and uncompromisingly respected by judges ad prosecutors alike, as well. He was working on a sentencing addendum the week before he passed, and he called me from the hospital where he was admitted, to apologize. He was humorously annoyed that he’d been forced into a hospital admission for what he said was a minor issue; it was, alas, far more, but his stoical persona simply labored on, no real concern for his own petty ailments. Indeed, as he was held “prisoner” in a hospital bed, he wrote his own story of that moment, and included this matter-of-fact explanation of his sudden and recalcitrant hiatus on a Caring Bridge site he himself set up: “Good morning, all! I'm trying out this site, and this is my first entry that I'm typing on a beautiful Spring morning in Verona, waiting for the temps to get into the 40s or 50s today, and anticipating the 60s tomorrow! First a short recollection of why I'm on this site in the first place. On Wednesday, 02/19/2020, I woke up feeling a bit "wonky." I thought maybe I'd slept wrong, with a kink in my neck or something. My vision was a bit off, but I wasn't really worried.... I decided I'd better do something about it, and went to the Dean Urgent Care. They tested me and wanted to send me to the hospital in an ambulance, since they didn't want me driving. I turned down that "offer" (actually, I said, "No Way" since I didn't want to incur such an exorbitant and in my mind, unnecessary expense). I returned home, finished writing up the results of the testing I'd done the day before, and asked my son, David, to drive me to the St. Mary's ER.... ” What he called “wonky” was in fact a trifecta of frightening diagnoses: a stroke, lung cancer and a recent heart attack (i.e., weeks ago). He wrote those words on his last Saturday, 3/7, and had already made plans to go to the Mayo for a second opinion. He passed from this world within 48 hours on 3/9. Bill, Bill, Bill, you damned hard-headed German. That was no “wonk”. That was God calling. Bill Merrick made me a better person and was great comfort, great comfort, when we lost our daughter. It is apropos that his email signature contained these quotes, in German & Latin (translations added): Was sich überhaupt sagen lässt, lässt sich klar sagen; und wovon mann nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen. “What can be said at all can be said clearly; and what you can't talk about, you have to keep silent.” - Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus logico-philosophicus (1921) Vox audita perit; litera scripta manet. ”The spoken word is thrown away, the written version remains.” - Ancient Roman Proverb (and more recently, and ironically, a twitter hashtag) Lo that we all could adhere to the notions he espoused by those quotations. And yet, what he wrote last most typified the great man he was in this life. Godspeed, Bill - and make sure to correct the Big Guy when you get there. I miss you but I’m a softie, unlike you. Chris Van Wagner, friend

My heart goes out to all of the family and friends of this wonderful, exceptional man. I knew Bill and the Merrick family many years ago in Kenosha and Madison. Bill and I were high school sweethearts. We had wonderful times and I am so grateful to have known him and to have been part of his happy teenage years. He had a great laugh, amazing sense of humor and always an honorable sense of purpose. He was the kindest person I've ever known. God bless all of you and please know you are all in my prayers. I know he was so proud of his family and loved you all dearly. Peggy Lechner Shaw

I was fortunate to have Dr. Merrick work on a case with me a year or two ago. He was a caring professional who made a difference. My condolences to his family and friends.

I knew Bill professionally, as we worked on cases together, albeit often on opposite sides of the courtroom. He was always a a kind, funny, and caring man who I enjoyed engaging in interesting conversations each time we encountered one another at a professional event. I was so concerned when I learned of his stroke, and ultimately heartbroken when I heard that he had passed away. The world has lost a truly unique man who clearly made his mark.

I wish all of the Merrick family comfort in knowing Bill was loved by many and will not be forgotten. My favorite memory of Bill was when he was life guarding one summer in Kenosha. I was the only sole that came to the beach that day as it was cold and windy. Bill put up a pup tent and we hung out for two hours, laughing, talking and I'm sure solving the world's problems. Bill was always kind, funny and had a huge heart. He dated my sister and we will always cherish the memories we have of Bill. I am so sorry for your loss.

How Bill saved my wife's life: a true story: My wife and I would drive from Chicago to visit our dear friend Bill Merrick in Madison every autumn. In October 2006, we met him a restaurant for lunch. After eating, I told Bill about Tian's health issue that had been worsening over the prior year: dizzy spells would render her immobile for up to 20 minutes and often involve her screaming and thinking she was having a stroke or dying. Doctors couldn't determine the cause: she went to many specialists who tested her for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other diseases. She even had a spinal tap: a piece of her spine was removed for analysis which her doctors suspected would result in a diagnosis of MS. But results were negative and we were back to square one. Bill listened intently to our story. He immediately knew what to do: gather all Tian's xrays and show them to a neural radiologist. - Now, of course neural radiologists had been handling Tian's xrays from the start, but Bill could see that none of them had ever been presented with the entire story all at once. The next morning I called Tian's regular doctor with Bill's recommendation. Her Doctor's reply, "That was the next thing I was gonna do" (Ya right). That evening, her doctor called with the results from the neural radiologist, "Tian has microvascular disease" and to start immediately on the only known treatment for it, a drug, which succeeded in stoppping the disease. What was in the xrays of Tian's brain? They revealed an increasing amount of 'white puss'. This 'white puss' was replacing the good cells in her brain, and would, according to her doctor, kill her in another year or so. The radiologist's diagnosis explained that, over time, the good cells in the tiny blood vessels in her brain were popping and turning into the 'white puss' (the drug for microvascular disease halted the spread of the white puss}. This is not a known disease but it is very similar to the real microvascular disease, discovered only recently by a doctor at Rush University Hospital in Chicago. In microvascular disease, the smallest blood vessels in the brain have microscopic strokes, which, if occurring frequently or in large numbers, can gradually lead to brain malfunction and death. The neural radiologist termed Tian's condition microvascular disease because it was the closest known condition to cover it. And luckily, the standard treatment for this disease did in fact halt the spread of Tian's illness. Occasionally, she still has a frightening dizzy spell, but they're not getting worse. We wanted to cure that also, of course, and we made an appointment with the Rush doctor who discovered this modern illness. We had to wait an entire year to see him (the news was out). After two hours he concluded she did not have microvascular disease. Instead, he suggested she may have MS! Obviously we didn't go down that route again. Thus, Tian's condition is unique but not spreading, thanks to the drug treatment, which was thanks to Bill's recommendation. We remain struck by the fact that after Tian had seen so many specialists who sent us in wrong directions, Bill knew immediately the correct path to take! Thanks again Bill; god bless you! We'll always miss you!