After a summer filled with extended family and friends, Douglas Demarest Mercer, 88, passed away peacefully Sept. 18, 2024. He was the son of the late Henry D. and Catherine S. Mercer and was born in Passaic in 1935.
Doug graduated from the Merchant Marine Academy with honors and then joined the family shipping business, States Marine Lines, between 1964 and 1980. States Marine was founded in New York in 1930 by Doug’s father, Henry D. Mercer. The company grew into a worldwide break-bulk shipping company, which at its peak had a fleet of 100 vessels managed by 500 shoreside employees, plus a worldwide agency network.
Initially, Doug learned the business by sailing as a third mate. He progressed up the ladder and assumed the presidency, then became CEO for the last 10 years of his 25-year tenure. During this period, Doug also served on several boards, including Moore McCormack Resources, Maremont Corporation, and Paine Weber’s Family of Funds.
In 1958, Doug trained for a three-year period on the 12-meter Weatherly as an America’s Cup contender. America’s Cup skipper Bus Mosbacher selected him as the main sail trimmer. In 1962, Mosbacher and his crew on the Weatherly successfully defended the Cup against Gretel of Australia.
Between 1981 and 1996, Doug was self-employed as a developer and general contractor in East Hampton, New York. He also enjoyed volunteering in East Hampton for Meals on Wheels and the Children’s Homework Program and was a fundraiser for the East Hampton Library expansion project.
His love for nature was best expressed by his dedication to the monitoring of the Piping Plovers. In 1990 he was hired by the East Hampton Natural Resources Department as the manager of the piping plover program.
In 1997, after attending the Optimum Health Institute in Austin, Texas, Doug refocused his outlook on the healing power of plant-based nutrition. In 2005, Doug founded the Wellness Foundation, which promoted health through nutrition, physical activity and stress management. He credited his father’s early stroke at age 62 and the bold 2005 student boycott of cafeteria food at East Hampton Middle School with inspiring him to start the foundation.
The Wellness Foundation has been credited as an educator for as many as 10,000 adults and 30,000 children on the South Fork. Doug built a robust advisory board filled with visionary doctors. The foundation led conferences for teachers that inspired new wellness initiatives for schools across the East End. In 2014, Doug was awarded the Service Above Self award as Rotary Club Person of the Year. East Hampton town supervisor Larry Cantwell declared Dec. 1 Doug Mercer Day.
Doug grew the foundation from 2005-2019 and continued until his passing as a board member emeritus.
After completing the Brown University Leadership and Performance Coaching Certification program in 2021, he founded Mercer Life Coaching LLC. With wisdom gained through life experience and academic training, he intended to help those around him using his qualities of empathy, integrity and tenacity.
Doug was a dedicated conservationist and was well known for his frequent catch-and-release migration tagging fishing outings. He was also a senior member of Augusta National Golf Club, The Maidstone Club, The New York Yacht Club and a former member of Devon Yacht Club and The River Club in New York.
Doug was predeceased by his parents; his sister Millicent Mercer Johnsen; and his daughter-in-law Louise Brown Mercer.
He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Patricia Mayer Mercer, and his brother Henry D. Mercer Jr. of Rumson, New Jersey. He is also survived by his six children: Douglas Derek; Gray Demarest and Judith Anne Hovetter; Catherine Courtney; Ashley French Mercer-Schwitter; Margaret Kirsten and husband Eric Cobb; and Nicholas Schroeder and wife Barbara Antonucci.
He is survived by his 11 grandchildren: Victoria Louise and husband Carlos Cannon; Rachel Petra; Eli and Alyss Cho; Paul Schwitter; Lily Jones and husband Kenny Erikson; Whitney Schwitter; Nicholas Miles and Owen John Cobb; Giada Alessandra; and Maximilian Demarest; and his two great-grandchildren, Odinn Alexander Mikhaelsson and Wesley Mercer Cannon.
A private family burial was held Sept. 27 at Fairview Cemetery in Middletown. In addition, a Celebration of Life in Doug’s honor will be held on the weekend of the Summer Solstice, Saturday, June 21, 2025, at the Maidstone Club in East Hampton. Direct any questions to mercercelebration@gmail.com.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Doug’s memory to i-tri, a girls’ empowerment program focusing on triathalons, at itrigirls.org.
Thompson Memorial Home of Red Bank has been entrusted with the arrangements.
The article originally appeared in the January 9 – 15, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
