SYRACUSE — Former U.S. District Judge Howard Munson died Sunday, just five months after retiring from the federal bench where he served more than 32 years. He was 84.

Lawyers and judges across the community remembered Munson for his remarkable memory and his fairness in presiding from the bench where he served since 1976.

Munson served as chief judge for the Northern District of New York from 1980 to 1988 and continued on the bench in senior status from 1990 until earlier this year when he retired for health reasons.

Among Munson’s most famous cases was the computer hacking prosecution of Cornell University graduate student Robert Morris, who crippled the nation’s computer network with a virus.

He also presided over cases involving tax protesters, Hare Krishna’s soliciting at airports and the prosecution of Hell’s Angels and pornographers.

In another important ruling, Munson decided that the overcrowded Syracuse jail was in such bad shape that it was unconstitutional, leading to construction of a new city-county jail.

Munson was born in Claremont, N.H.

He attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School but after his freshman year joined the Army’s 79th Division. He fought in the Normandy invasion and was wounded. He received four Battle Stars, a Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart during World War II.

After the war, he finished a bachelor’s degree in economics at Penn and continued on for a law degree from Syracuse University in 1952. He worked in private practice for nearly 25 years before becoming a judge.

Munson will be buried at Oakwood Morningside Cemetery in a private ceremony Friday.