Date of death:  September 18, 2005

Age:  64

Residence at time of death:  Baltimore, Maryland

Occupation:  House painter,  artist,  preservationist

Family:  Brother Arthur

Circumstances of death:  Criminal homicide, still under investigation

Myron's Life:  To his friends he was "Terry," which was his middle name, and he was the kind of friend that people cherished.  More than 200 people turned out for the memorial service after his death, all of them asking, "Who would kill someone like Terry?"

After HPHS he had followed in his dad's footsteps, studying to practice law.  He attended the University of Maryland Law School.   He got through school all right.  But, somehow, his classmates remembered, he didn't have the attitude of the average law student.  On the day one of his classes was assigned to study the concept of  "clean hands" in the legal context,  Terry arrived in class wearing a pair of white gloves.  He had many passions,  food, music and movies, among them.  And he loved to engage others in discussion and debate.  He could critique a kung fu movie while simultaneously talking about a medieval tapestry.

After law school, he gave the legal profession about a year before becoming a painter.  He delighted in creating faux finishes and murals in his clients' homes in the older sections of his adopted hometown, Baltimore.  In many ways he reminded his customers of Eldon, the character in the old "Murphy Brown" TV show, who made every painting job a virtuoso performance.  Terry's uniform seldom varied:  paint-spattered coveralls and Birkenstocks.  His own 19th century rowhouse, which he lovingly worked to restore over the course of two decades, was a showpiece so beautiful that it was often featured in walking tours sponsored by the city.  Neighbors described him as "an inspiration to the neighborhood."

His body was found in the front room of that beautiul home by firemen answering a fire call at 1:00 in the morning on a Sunday.   His hands were bound and he had been killed by a blow to the head.  The fire had apparently been set in an effort to conceal evidence of the murder.   Police, pushed along by the heavy publicity generated by the senseless murder of a local hero, conducted an intensive investigation but failed to come up with solid leads.  The case remains on the unsolved list.

A Baltimore friend, speaking to a local newspaper at the memorial service, summarized the feelings of those who knew him about our classmate Myron Terry Koenig:  "He was such a sweet gentle soul;  such a sweet, gentle, unassuming soul."