Henry Merritt Irwin, of Westwood, MA, formerly of Philadelphia, PA, died peacefully on July 10th. He was born in Philadelphia on July 16, 1925 to Keturah and Robert F. Irwin Jr. He was the youngest of their six children. He graduated from Germantown Academy in 1943 and from Princeton University in 1949 as a member of the class of 1947, where he was president of the Ivy Club and business manager of the Triangle Club. As an active Princeton alumnus, he served on his class executive committee, alumni council committee, and was president of the Princeton Club of Philadelphia for four years. In 1951 he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and practiced law in Philadelphia from 1951 until his retirement in 1996. A trusted legal advisor, he served on the Board of Directors of Harrisons & Crosfield America, Inc. and a number of subsidiaries of its parent company, Harrisons & Crosfield, PLC. He served as a staff sergeant during World War II flying B-24’s in Italy for the United States Army Air Forces. He served on the vestry of The Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Chestnut Hill, PA, was a former trustee of Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, PA, and was a former Chairman of the Whitemarsh Township Zoning Board. He was a former member of the Philadelphia Club, the Philadelphia Cricket Club, Sunnybrook Golf Club, and the Dedham Country and Polo Club. His leisure activities are demonstrative of a gentleman who enjoyed the simple pleasures of life: bird-watching, gardening, a game of croquet, a challenging crossword puzzle, or an afternoon sail on Buzzards Bay. He was predeceased by his first wife, Sydney Brown Irwin, and leaves his loving wife of 48 years, Chauncy L. Irwin of Westwood; four children: Alice I. Clarke of Danvers, William T. Irwin of Essex, Edith C. Chase of Slingerlands, NY, and Katherine C. Minevitz of Hingham, as well as nine grandchildren. Private services were held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Dedham, MA.
