CAPT Frank J. Diersen, USCG (Ret.)

CAPT Frank J. Diersen, USCG (Retired) crossed the bar on Dec. 1, 2007, in Suffolk, Va after a prolonged illness. After serving as an electronics technician for three years, Frank received his commission as an Ensign through Officer Candidate School in 1954. Frank was designated a naval aviator upon graduation from Navy flight training in 1955, and served as an aircraft commander in both fixed wing and helicopter aircraft at several Coast Guard air stations along the east coast and in Naples, Italy. He was recognized for his performance as aircraft commander in search and rescue flights and for conducting surveillance flights off the coast of Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis. Subsequent tours of duty included deployments to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War and duty as Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Marine Inspection Office in Philadelphia. Frank and his wife Margaret retired to Chesapeake, Virginia in 1981 after 30 years of dedicated Coast Guard service. Left to cherish his memory are his wife of 50 years, Margaret Heaphy Diersen of Chesapeake; son, James F. Diersen and his wife Tracey of Virginia Beach; daughter, Deborah Diersen Quigley and her husband CAPT Kevin Quigley, USCG of Chesapeake; and grandchildren, Portia, James and Victoria Diersen and Danielle, Megan and Mark Quigley. Frank was buried on December 7, 2008 with military honors in the Albert G. Horton Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery, Suffolk, Virginia.

01/19/08 Submitted by: Kevin Quigley

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