Noted civic leader Paul Merrill dies

PORTLAND – Paul D. “P.D.” Merrill, a businessman and civic leader who in 1982 developed one of the only privately owned cargo terminals on the East Coast, died Sunday after suffering a heart attack. He was 62.

Merrill, who lived in Yarmouth, was remembered as an honest, fair and sometimes outspoken businessman and a longtime force on Portland’s working waterfront.

“He was extremely committed to his father’s dream and to his employees, and he just did not let up,” said Armand Demers, Merrill’s operations manager for 20 years. “It’s just amazing that he made a success of this, because the odds were certainly against him.”

Merrill grew up in Portland, where his father, Paul E. Merrill, operated a trucking business. When the elder Merrill died of a heart attack in 1982, his son took charge of a large trucking fleet, lumber mills and the nearly completed marine terminal.

Merrill spent two years as a volunteer in Kentucky, where he helped build a school, and then worked in cities around the country developing cooperative housing and managing public housing. In 1979 he returned to Portland to work in his father’s business, Merrill Transport Co., and direct the development of the shipping terminal.

Merrill and the city were often at odds about public competition in the shipping and cargo business. While Portland’s city-owned terminal handles containerized freight, Merrill’s Marine Terminal handles larger, bulk cargo, such as newsprint, wood pulp and tapioca flour.

Whenever a proposal surfaced to expand the public cargo business, Merrill would take city officials to task for undercutting private enterprise or not being supportive of industry. But he also was active in city-sponsored efforts to support the business community and waterfront.

Merrill sold the terminal operation to Sprague Energy in 2004, a decision that he said assures the terminal’s long-term future.

A longtime trustee of the University of New England, he played a key role in its expansion in Biddeford and its merger with Westbrook College.

Maine political leaders mourned Merrill’s death.

“This is a terrible loss,” Gov. John Baldacci said. “He has been a leader in Maine, particularly on transportation issues and ports, and was a real advocate for the state.”

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Merrill’s “passing will leave a hole in the fabric of the Maine community that will be hard to mend.”

Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Allen of the 1st District called Merrill “a visionary whose contributions have made our state more prosperous and better able to compete in the global economy.”

Merrill is survived by his wife, Sandi Goolden, and an 8-year-old son, Ethan.

A funeral service will be held Thursday at First Parish Congregational Church in Yarmouth.