Albert (Al) Francke III

Albert (Al) Francke, III, died March 2, 2025, in an assisted living community in Greenport, Long Island, New York. Upon graduation, Al spent two years in the U.S. Navy where he became a member of an Underwater Demolition Team (UDT), a forerunner of the Navy SEALS. His team worked with the first astronauts mimicking weightlessness underwater. At one point, the team was tasked to blow up a coral reef off the Officers’ Beech Club which was cutting the feet of Navy wives and their children. Overestimating the amount of explosives to use, his UDT team blew up the reef and the Beach Club. Following his naval experience, Al attended Stanford Law School, graduating in 1961, and joined a law firm in New York City, serving as managing partner from 1987 to 1990, after which he opened a branch of the firm in London where he served from 1992 to 1994. He later divided his time between New York and Bridgehampton, renovating a small beach shack into a stilted home near Sagaponack Pond in Bridgehampton. He was an active bird shooter at gun clubs in Sag Harbor and Shelter Island. He is survived by his wife of 15 years, Rose Marie Morse.