Robert L. ‘Rob’ Zouck Jr.
Former clerk of the Maryland Tax Court and competitive Chesapeake sailor also served in state attorney general’s office
Robert L. “Rob” Zouck Jr., a retired lawyer and former clerk of the Maryland Tax Court who was a competitive Chesapeake Bay and Magothy River sailor, died of complications from a fall at Greater Baltimore Medical Center on Jan. 22. The Cockeysville resident was 75.
“Bob hired me as his deputy clerk in 1983, and he was the reason I stayed for the next 26 years and took over his job when he retired,” said John T. “Jack” Hearn.
“He was such a great supervisor and mentor and showed me how to run the agency. He taught me how to deal with the governor, legislature and budget office, and he was good at it because he had great charm,” said Mr. Hearn, who retired at the end of last year.
“Rob was funny, irreverent and up to any task. He was industrious and a great mechanic,” said David B. Hoffberger, a longtime close friend. “I don’t think he was ever scared of anything.”
Robert Linsley Zouck Jr., son of Robert L. Zouck Sr., an aeronautical engineer, and Anne Johnston Zouck, a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and spent his early years in Sudbrook Park before moving with his family to a home in Ruxton.
Mr. Hoffberger first met Mr. Zouck when they were both growing up in Ruxton.
“We were 15 and both had motor scooters, and we were out riding in Riderwood one day, and he said, ‘Let’s swap scooters.’ The next thing I know, he’s laughing and says, ‘Mine doesn’t have brakes,’” Mr. Hearn recalled. “They were building the Beltway then, and I let go and had to crash into a pile of dirt to get it to stop. That was 1963, and we laughed and talked about it for the next 40 years.”
As a teenager, Mr. Zouck, a talented mechanic, made extra money repairing Volkswagen engines, until his parents put a stop to it.
“He used to repair people’s VWs on the front lawn of their houses when he was in Annapolis,” Mr. Hearn said with a laugh.
“They forbade this enterprise and demanded he rid their property of all VW parts in order to host a lawn party for a sister’s wedding,” wrote Anne Zouck Perry of Cross Keys in a biographical profile of her brother.
Mr. Zouck, who attended St. Paul’s School for Boys and Towson High School, earned a bachelor’s degree in 1971 from the University of Baltimore and his law degree three years later, also from UB.
“He worked the night shift at a filling station to put himself through school. He persevered, and when he did finally pass, he had an impressive career in Annapolis,” Mr. Hearn said.
“I was always so impressed with how he dealt with challenges. He worked hard to become a lawyer and worked hard at learning how to sail,” he said.
After clerking for Judge Basil A. Thomas of the old Supreme Bench of Baltimore City, he joined the Maryland Attorney General’s Office and in 1976 went to work for the Maryland Tax Court.
“A lot of people come to the tax court without a lawyer, and they were often quite nervous and didn’t know quite what to expect,” Mr. Hearn said. “But before the hearing started, Bob would go out and talk to them and, if they had one, their attorney. He had a way of easing their minds and got them to relax a bit.
“People would often come back to the court, and they would always recall how Bob put them at ease. He was such an asset to the State of Maryland,” he said.
A much-in-demand speaker on state taxation topics, Mr. Zouck was an adjunct professor in the graduate tax program from 1989 to 2001 at the University of Baltimore School of Law.
He was also former chair of the taxation section of the Maryland State Bar Association, and in 2009, he was presented the Tax Excellence Award from the Maryland State Bar Association’s Taxation Section.
Among his many professional and community activities, Mr. Zouck was vice chair of the Maryland Tax Court Rule Committee.
He retired in 2009.
In addition to golf, Mr. Zouck was an avid sailor who enjoyed racing his “beloved Garuda and Kind Duck for over 20 years in multiple regattas throughout the Chesapeake Bay,” his sister wrote.
Mr. Zouck had been a lifetime member of the Potapskut Sailing Association on Black Hole Creek in Pasadena.
“He met his longtime companion and sailing partner, Jill Porter, when she signed on as a member of his crew for the Wednesday night races,” Ms. Perry said. “Jill died last year.”
In 1973, he married the former Patricia Anne Lewis and spent the early years of their marriage, which later ended in divorce, living in Rodgers Forge, where he had served on the board of the neighborhood association.
He also was a former member of the Baltimore County Trail Riders Association and had coached lacrosse for the Towsontowne Recreation Council.
Mr. Zouck was a 40-year member of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd.
In addition to his sister, he is survived by his son, Robert L. Zouck III of Roland Park; a daughter, Hillary Zouck Shaffer of Rodgers Forge; another sister, Cynthia Zouck Williams of Piney Point, St. Mary’s County; two grandchildren; and four nephews. His longtime companion and sailing partner, Jill Porter, died last year.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Feb. 25. at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd at 1401 Carrollton Ave. in Towson.