The Los Angeles Times du lieu suivant : Los Angeles, California • Page 16

2003:05:08:20:16:26 Obituaries Carl Upchurch, 53; Ex-Gang Member Was Activist, Author Carl Upchurch, 53, a onetime gang member who earned a degree in prison and became an author and social activist urging peace in urban ghettos, died May 2 at a hospital in Columbus, Ohio. The cause of death was not given. Anative of Philadelphia, Upchurch grew up in poverty and violence on the South Side. By age 13, he was involved in gangs. Aconvicted armed robber, Upchurch spent 18 years of his life in reformatories and prisons, but turned his life around while incarcerated and earned a college degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

He wrote two books. His first, in the Womb: One Journey From Prisoner to told his life story in stark detail and was made into a movie by the Show- time cable network. His second, the was published in 2002. Upchurch earned a degree of national recognition in 1993, when he helped organize a summit of gang members in Kansas City to urge an end to gang killings in U.S. cities.

Over the last 15 years, Upchurch also worked as an advocate for prison reform. Dr. Henry Wise, 82; Tuskegee Airman, Medical Director Dr. Henry A. Wise 82, a former medical director of Bowie State University and a World War II pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen, died May 2at Prince George Hospital Center in Maryland after a heart attack.

Born and raised in Cheriton, Wise graduated from Virginian Union University, then served from 1942 to 1946 in the Tuskegee Airmen, the highly decorated African American unit that flew combat missions in Europe during World War II. Apilot with the 99th Pursuit squadron, his plane was shot down in a raid on the Polesti oil fields in Romania, and he was a prisoner of war for about three months. He was rescued and repatriated by Soviet troops. Wise graduated from Howard University Medical School after the war. He practiced medicine in Bowie, and served as medical director of Bowie State University.

He retired from private practice in the early 1990s. From Staff and Wire Reports PASSINGS From Associated Press TAMPA, Fla. Robert W. Merkle a former federal prosecutor who successfully prosecuted Colombian drug baron Carlos Lehder and battled corrupt public servants, has died. He was 58.

Merkle died Monday night at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, after a brief illness, said his son Robert Merkle III. The family did not disclose the cause of death. While serving from 1982 to 1988 as chief prosecutor in the U.S. office for the Middle District of Florida, headquartered in Tampa, Merkle won the conviction of Lehder after a 7 1 2 -month trial. Later he obtained one of two indictments against Panamanian dictator Manuel A.

Noriega, who remains imprisoned in Florida for drug-related crimes. The flamboyant prosecutor also obtained indictments against three sitting Florida representatives, two judges, three prosecutors, and dozens of bankers, attorneys and postal workers. was one of those rare individuals who was truly larger than said John Fitzgibbons, who worked under him in the U.S. office for four years. the courtroom, he was as good a trial lawyer as there was in America.

As a boss, he was probably the most complex, difficult and demanding boss you could Critics acknowledged legal skills but questioned his methods. Florida Gov. Bob Martinez once tried to get Merkle fired for calling Martinez a liar. Newspapers campaigned for the ouster. Defense attorneys decried what they viewed as abusive, bullying tactics.

They compared them to McCarthyism and called for U.S. Justice Department investigations, which always cleared Merkle of any inappropriate behavior. Merkle quit the post in 1988 to run for the U.S. Senate and was beaten in the Republican primary by Connie Mack. The former prosecutor had since been in private practice.

Born in Washington, D.C., and raised mostly in Greenville, S.C., Merkle earned undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Notre Dame. He moved to Florida in 1977 to work in a state office. He joined the U.S. office in 1981 and was appointed chief the next year. Survivors include his wife, Angela, and nine children.

Robert Merkle, 58; Prosecuted Drug Kingpin Associated Press ROBERT W. MERKLE JR. The flamboyant U.S. attorney in Tampa, shown in 1986, won the conviction of Carlos Lehder and obtained one of two indictments against Manuel Noriega. From Associated Press Bernice V.

Edwards, whose relationship with the Rev. Henry Lyons led to the downfall of his ministry and the revelation of a massive financial scandal involving the National Baptist Convention, has died. She was 46. Edwards died Monday at the federal prison in Pekin, where she was scheduled to be released in June. She was serving a nine-month term for violating her probation on federal tax evasion charges.

An autopsy was planned. Born in Mississippi, Edwards was a convicted embezzler who was working as a publicist for the National Baptist Convention, one of the largest black church denominations. In 1997, the wife, Deborah Lyons, discovered that her husband secretly owned a $700,000 waterfront mansion with Edwards and she set the house on fire. The ensuing investigation revealed that Henry Lyons and Edwards had used church proceeds to buy other properties, jewelry and luxury cars. Prosecutors accused Lyons and Edwards of steal- ing more than $4 million from corporations wanting to sell cemetery products, life insurance policies and credit cards to the Nashville-based 8.5 million members.

In 1999, Edwards was acquitted in state court of racketeering, but later that year she was convicted in federal court on two counts of tax evasion. She was sentenced to 21 months in prison and three probation. Lyons was convicted of federal racketeering and grand theft and was sentenced to 5 1 2 years in prison. Bernice Edwards, 46; Figure in Church Financial Scandal Associated Press BERNICE V. EDWARDS She and the Rev.

Henry Lyons were accused of stealing more than $4 million in connection with his ministry at the National Baptist Convention. They both went to prison. From a Times Staff Writer Duane Allen, a National Football League player in the 1960s, most notably with the Los Angeles Rams, has died. He was 65. Allen died Wednesday of a heart attack at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena.

He had suffered a stroke April 11. Born in Alhambra, Allen was a junior college All- American at Santa Ana College. At 6-foot-4, 225 pounds and exceptionally fast, Allen was selected by the Rams in the ninth round of the NFL draft in 1960. Used sparingly by a Ram team that was stocked with excellent receivers such as Carroll Dale and Del Shofner, Allen nevertheless frequently ended up in the end zone on his pass routes. Five of his first seven receptions with the Rams were for touchdowns.

Allen left the Rams after the 1964 season, playing for Pittsburgh and finally Chicago. He went into coaching after his playing days and helped the football and track programs at Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra from the late 1960s through the early 1990s. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Kazon; and a son, Duane Allen a Los Angeles County deputy. Funeral services are planned for 10:30 a.m. Monday at First Baptist Church, 101 S.

Atlantic Alhambra. Duane Allen, 65; NFL Player for Rams in DUANE ALLEN Shown in 1962, the Alhambra native coached school sports for four decades. CALIFORNIA IE B13 LOSANGELESTIMES.