Frank Schubert (1915–2003) was the

lighthouse keeper A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...

of the Coney Island Light for over 40 years. He was among the last civilian lighthouse keepers in the United States. Schubert began working for the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

in 1939. At the time of his death he was serving at the Coney Island Light in Sea Gate,

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, where he had worked since 1960. He maintained the grounds and fog signal, and was credited with saving 15 lives. Schubert remained at the lighthouse after it was automated in the 1980s, and was visited by many

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

buffs. He died on December 11, 2003, aged 88.

References

External links

Coney Island Lighthouse website
- maintained by the Schubert family
Lighthouse Digest article
1915 births 2003 deaths People from Sea Gate, Brooklyn United States Lighthouse Service personnel American lighthouse keepers {{pharology-stub