Merton Henry lives in Scarborough’s Piper Shores, a retirement community ideally located to kick up one’s feet, look out over the ocean and enjoy life on the coast of Maine. Henry can do all those things and more, but unlike the average retiree relaxation for Henry is often scheduled around work.

At 82, Henry “keeps getting dragged back in,” as he puts it. These days the Portland lawyer usually says no when asked to join a group here or there, but when a certain good cause comes knocking Henry steps up.

A lifetime of stepping up and helping out is why Henry was honored Tuesday night with the Muskie Access to Justice award.

The award is given at the annual Muskie Access to Justice Dinner held since former Maine Sen. Edmund S. Muskie’s death in 1996. The evening and its award are meant to honor Muskie’s commitment to both the environment and passion for civic responsibility.

Muskie was a state legislator and governor of Maine before becoming a senator in 1959 and eventually President Carter’s secretary of state. During Muskie’s terms as a senator, he served along with Maine’s Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman elected to both houses of Congress. Henry too is connected to Smith, now serving on the Margaret Chase Smith Library Advisory Board, one of the few he can’t turn down.

Long before the library opened in 1982, Henry volunteered for Smith’s campaign in 1948 during his sophomore year at Bowdoin College. He organized meetings, put up signs and generally did all the “nitty gritty stuff.”

“It was very exciting,” said Henry. “Politics were very different then.” Instead of television advertisements ruling the campaign, it was radio and newspapers that really mattered.

This was just the beginning of a long list of political and civic roles Henry would play. After realizing he didn’t want to be a history professor after all, Henry graduated Magna Cum Laude from Bowdoin in 1950 to pursue a law degree.

Henry’s college career came after his service in the Army during World War II, and war would again change his life after Bowdoin. When World War II was over Henry remained in the Reserves and was called up just after graduation as the Korean War began. In a twist of fate he was stationed in Washington, D.C., where he could attend George Washington Law School at night.

After law school, Henry worked for Sen. Frederick Payne for five years, a period of time he calls a “side track” to his ultimate goal.

“I always wanted to practice law in Maine,” said Henry.

In 1961 Henry was a founding partner for the Portland law firm Jensen Baird Gardner and Henry, where he now works three days a week as a counsel to the firm.

While working in Portland in the 1980s Henry helped to establish the Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project, one of several philanthropic programs he’s been involved with over his long career.

The project gives legal aid to those who may not be able to afford the help they need. People can call in, explain their legal problems and then their cases are assigned to volunteer lawyers on a rotating schedule. After the program was created, Henry volunteered regularly.

“I think lawyers have a responsibility to give back to the community,” said Henry. Though he’s proud of Maine’s lawyers for all of the charitable work they do, he believes that a growing pressure to log billable hours keeps many from donating more time.

“I wish more lawyers would do more for this area,” he said.

Henry more than just wishes Maine lawyers would do more; he goes out and makes sure they have plenty of opportunities to give back.

In 2004, Henry co-chaired the fundraising Campaign for Justice that solicits lawyers. That year the campaign raised more than $300,000 that went to programs such as Pine Tree Legal Assistance, which gives free legal aid to low income Maine residents.

Though Henry has used his knowledge of law to help many Maine residents, he’s also been involved with many more aspects of the community. One thing he couldn’t resist joining lately was the board of the Scarborough Public Library.

“I think the new library is urgently needed,” said Henry. He believes the library is central to the town and hopes he can help with their plans for renovation.

Scarborough’s library board is far from the only one Henry has been a part of. Some of the many boards he’s served on in the past include Bowdoin, the Portland Museum of Art, Hospice of Maine, Southern Maine Technical College and Maine Life Care Retirement Community.

As a part of Maine Life Care Henry helped create Piper Shores. Now Henry more than just lives at Piper Shores; as president of the Residents Council, he helps run it.

“I’m involved in the operations here,” he said with a smile. “I was out of it for a while, but they dragged me back in.”

Merton Henry recieved the Muskie Access to Justice Award on Tuesday.