George Metz, 72, detective in Montgomery County

George N. Metz, 72, of Royersford, a larger-than-life police detective who was equally at home interviewing millionaires and crackheads, died Monday, July 11, of a cerebral hemorrhage at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

A cigar-smoking gumshoe in the style of TV's Lt. Columbo, Mr. Metz was a legendary figure in the Lower Merion Township Police Department and the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.

Not only could he solve a crime, he would return to his office and regale everyone with how he did it, said Mike McGrath, Lower Merion public safety superintendent.

"He could make it sound like he was solving the most impossible investigation, but it could be a simple retail theft," said McGrath. "He was one of a kind."

Mr. Metz served with the Lower Merion force as a detective from 1963 to 1991, when he became a homicide detective for the county.

After he retired in 1999, the homicide unit wasn't the same, fellow investigator Christine Wesoloski wrote in Metz's online guest book.

"When I think of all the pranks and jokes when all of the old-timers were in the homicide unit, I can't help but smile," she recalled.

William R. Carpenter, the prosecutor in charge of the homicide unit, recalls Mr. Metz's self-possession.

"He was not intimidated by being in a courtroom, briefing the first assistant attorney, or prepping a witness," said Carpenter, now a County Court judge.

Carpenter said he played matchmaker for Mr. Metz and his wife, Anne, then a secretary in the District Attorney's Office. "Take her to Le Bec-Fin," Carpenter recalled urging Mr. Metz.

Instead, Mr. Metz announced, he would take her to the Seven Stars Inn in Phoenixville. That was on Jan. 26, 1990. That June 9, they married. It was the second marriage for both; his first wife, Kathleen, had died.

Born and raised in Conshohocken, Mr. Metz graduated from Conshohocken High School in 1956. He served in the Army for two years, then worked for the Wissahickon School District as a school-bus mechanic.

Mr. Metz's people skills were key to his success as an investigator, said Lower Merion detective George Ohrin.

"He was great with people. He just knew how to work every case. For us younger officers, all you had to do was sit back and watch him work. He had rapport with everybody," Ohrin said.

Carpenter said Mr. Metz stood out for his "old-style" sleuthing technique.

"These guys would run a lead out till they got the guy," he said, "although they weren't college graduates."

Mr. Metz trained at the Pennsylvania State Police Academy in Hershey in 1963, and the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., in 1977.

He was lead detective in a notorious case. On Good Friday 1988, a laborer at a dig site on Woodmont Road in Lower Merion fatally stabbed two archaeology students and wounded two archaeologists.

Based on interviews at the scene, Mr. Metz tracked the man, Arthur Faulkner, 31, to New York City, then returned him to face first-degree murder charges. Faulkner, of North Philadelphia, is serving a life sentence.

In addition to police work, Mr. Metz was Conshohocken's fire chief from 1975 to 1991. When he retired, it was to spend time with family, and enjoy sports, hunting, fishing and the outdoors, he wrote the Borough Council.

Surviving in addition to his wife are a son, George; grandson Zachary; stepsons Matthew and Jon Fleer; and a brother.

Visitation will be from 8:15 to 9:15 a.m. Friday, July 15, at Cattermole-Klotzbach Funeral Home, 600 Washington St., Royersford. A Funeral Mass will follow at 10 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church, Walnut Street at Lewis Road, Royersford. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.

Memorial donations may be made to Mission Kids, Child Advocacy Center of Montgomery County, Box 413, Blue Bell, Pa. 19422.