Albert C. Riggs Jr.

Albert C. Riggs Jr., a businessman and historian who collected old boats, cars, and houses, died at home in Santa Fe, N.M., on Jan. 13. He was 94 and had been a Sag Harbor resident for 20 years. 

An Army veteran who served during World War II, he remained on active duty for 20 years. He graduated from Harvard University before the war, and he returned afterward to earn a master’s degree in business. 

Around that time, he married Frances Louise Craven, his childhood sweetheart, and the couple had three children. They divorced in 1968. 

Mr. Riggs held executive positions at Hazelton Labs and the National Health Lab. 

  While living in Washington, D.C., and New York, he and Ellen Keiser, his companion for many years, lived on his favorite wood boat, Applejack. Later, he bought and restored a house in Sag Harbor, where he lived before moving to Santa Fe in 2014 to be closer to his daughter, Katherine Riggs.

Born on April 2, 1924, in Bellingham, Wash., to the former Esther Larsen and Albert Riggs Sr., he was known for his keen intelligence and love of history. He contributed personal archival materials on J.J. Donovan, an early community leader in Bellingham who had been a friend of his family, to Western Washington University. His passion for collecting old things turned him into an expert Dumpster diver, his family said. 

In addition to his daughter, he is survived by two granddaughters and two great-grandchildren. His ex-wife and two sons, Ted Riggs and Chuck Riggs, died before him. 

A private memorial ceremony will be held when Mr. Riggs’s ashes are dispersed at Bellingham Bay.