Margarethe Merritt was born in Poland. Upon completion of Boleslaw Chrobry High School in Bytom she immigrated to Germany and became a German citizen. She quickly learned German, two years later she graduated with honors from Geschwister-Sholl Preparatory School in Mannheim, Germany, and was admitted to the Heidelberg University, where she majored in chemistry and biology. During her 6 years in Germany she also completed a foreign language correspondent course (English/German). A year later she met her future husband, a U.S. soldier stationed in Germany. When her husband’s brigade was transferred to Fort Lewis, WA, she moved to the U.S. In 1995 shortly after her arrival, she enrolled in the ABA approved paralegal program at Highline Community College. In 1997 she graduated with honors and a GPA of 3.96 as the only non-American paralegal student, and was awarded an applied science degree. In 2001 she joined Curran Law Firm in Kent, WA and begun assisting attorney Gregory F. Cromwell whose practice focuses on the Homeowners’ Associations field. In November of 2009, their HOA team joined Hanis Irvine Prothero. After 15 years of living in the U.S. on July 8, 2010 she became a U.S. citizen. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family, her husband and their two children, Michael (11) and Ashley (6), jazz and tap dancing at the British Dancing Academy, skiing, reading, decorating and breeding and showing her Siberian cats of Frosty Forest Siberians.