Morton Myerson

Morton Myerson, a retired real-estate developer, lawyer, liberal activist in Brookline politics, World War II Veteran; at 94, died on June 25, four days after his 94th birthday. Mr. Myerson was a Navy veteran of World War II who saw action in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, including service as a beach master during the Normandy invasion.

Born in Dorchester, a son of the late Joseph and Rose (Waldstein) Myerson, his family moved to Brookline when he was a young boy. A 1937 graduate of Brookline High School, he enrolled in Harvard College after a post-graduate year at New Preparatory School. Enrolling in the Navy’s accelerated reserve officer program immediately after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, he earned his AB from Harvard College in 1942. In December 1942 he received his commission as a second lieutenant—and married his long-time sweetheart, the former Eleanor Applebaum.

Assigned to the Amphibious Forces, Lt. Myerson skippered an LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) on the Pacific Coast, taking part in the Aleutian Islands Campaign in 1943. The following year he was transferred to England, where he trained with the beach battalions in preparation for the invasion of Europe. On June 7, 1944, he landed amid heavy German fire on Omaha Blue beach in Normandy, serving as beach master.

As naval action shifted Pacific, Lt. Myerson served on an Attack Transport, where his ship supported the invasion of Iwo Jima. He finished his military off the Shandong Peninsula in China.

Returning to the Boston area after the war, he and his young wife started a family while he attended Harvard Law School. Myerson earned his LLB (now JD) in 1948 and spent four years in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. During the early 1950’s he became active in the state chapter of Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), and organization that publicly opposed the anti-communist hysteria of the postwar years.

With the election of a Republican administration in 1952, Mr. Myerson left government service, joining with longtime friends to establish the antitrust firm of Malloy, Sullivan and Myerson. He later joined the firm of Kargman and Myerson, where he acquired and expertise in real estate law. Mr. Myerson then struck out on his own, leveraging that expertise to syndicate partnerships in federally-back D-3 low-moderate-income housing developments. As a partner in Myerson-Allen, he also specialized in redeveloping historic downtown buildings as low-moderate and elderly housing.

Active aggressive competitor in raquet sports and golf, he was a lifetime member of the Harvard Club of Boston, serving on the Squash Committee there for several years. He was also a long-time member and former president of the Cataumet Club. Mr. Myerson was a founding member of the Pocasset Golf Club.

Besides his wife of 71 years, Mr. Myerson is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Joseph Myerson and Lynne Johnson of Bolton, MA and a daughter, Ann Myerson, of Brookline, MA.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a Memorial Service at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 24, 2014 at the Pocasset Golf Club 24 Clubhouse Drive Pocasset, MA 02559.

Arrangements under the direction of Nickerson~Bourne Funeral Home, Bourne, Massachusetts.