Born in 1927, Archie grew up a swamp Yankee, hunting and fishing in rural Usquepaugh, Rhode Island. After graduating from the University of Rhode Island and Georgetown Law School, he settled in Wakefield, Rhode Island with his wife Betty Ann. Archie and Betty Ann raised four children — Susan, Stephen, Michael and John — and were heavily involved in the town’s civic life. In his forties, he discovered a passion for sailing, racing every Sunday in his 18-foot Cape Cod Knockabout on Point Judith Pond.

After his wife Betty Ann passed away in 1997, Archie sold their house and began pursuing his dream of a life on the water. After several years of attending boat shows and researching the options, Archie purchased a 48-foot Island Packet sailboat in 2003, at age 76. After dutifully polling his family about possible names, he named the vessel what we all knew he would:  Betty Ann.

In the last ten years, he has cruised New England during the summer months and then organized three week trips back and forth to Bradenton, Florida each spring and fall. The fact that, for ten years, he has pulled together crews for these trips is an indication of the character of the Captain. Despite having many decades on most of his crew, Archie is still usually the best sailor on the boat. When his crew get seasick or just oversleep, the Captain is typically the one who covers their watches. He also somehow manages to stay in good cheer, no matter what silly things his crew does.

Somehow, squeezed in between his sailing, Archie still practices law full time and attends nearly all the lacrosse, basketball and track events of his grandchildren.