Jack Lachenmeyer, 'dive-boat captain's captain,' of Commack, who salvaged from the Andrea Doria, dies at 89

Under the sea or under the Sound, Commack scuba diver and dive-boat captain Jack Lachenmeyer found treasure.

Sometimes it was a window salvaged from the shipwrecked Andrea Doria. But mostly, it was in the after-dive hours on the deck of his vessel the Sea Hawk, with a regular assortment of other divers who became like family.

"The other dive boats were more all-business," said Women Divers Hall of Famer Paula Jerman, formerly of Remsenburg and now of Sarasota, Florida. She and a group of other divers often pushed out from Freeport on Lachenmeyer and the late Frank Persico’s 36-footer. "With Frank's and John's boat, it was a big social event. So you went diving for the day and came back and barbecued and had cocktails and had sushi from the fresh fish we’d caught."

"He was truly a dive-boat captain’s captain," said Bayport’s Barry Lipsky, president of the Long Island Divers Association. "His legacy lives on in the countless divers he mentored, the friendships he fostered and the passion for diving he inspired in others."

Unlike many old-school divers who preciously guarded their secrets and techniques, "he was willing to share with other divers, especially new divers," said retired captain Steve Bielenda, of Miller Place. "He would spend the time to talk with them."

Lachenmeyer gave back to the sport in other ways as well, including as a founder and the two-decade treasurer of the Eastern Dive Boat Association, said Bielenda, the organization’s former president.

In 1995, sleuthing by Lachenmeyer and fellow diver Dan Berg identified a mysterious wreck discovered 30 years earlier 14 miles off Jones Inlet as the Yankee, from the Pittsburgh Steamship Division of the United States Steel Corporation.

Still diving into in his 80s, Lachenmeyer died on May 25 at South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, two days after suffering a fall at home. He was 89.

John Joseph Lachenmeyer Jr. was one of identical twin sons of John Joseph Sr., a machinist at the pioneering Brooklyn typesetting firm Mergenthaler Linotype, and Catherine Felczak Lachenmeyer. Born Dec. 18, 1936 in Queens, he and his brother, Frederick, were raised in Franklin Square. The two graduated from Sewanhaka High School in Floral Park in 1954.

Lachenmeyer, called Jack by family and friends, played junior varsity lacrosse and varsity soccer there, and planned to go into electrical engineering. He graduated with an engineering degree from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, now the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, in 1962. After working for Grumman Aerospace, in Bethpage, he did a stint at the Sperry Corporation in Lake Success before returning to Grumman and becoming a computer engineer until retiring.

A scuba diver nearly all his life, he was among the founders of the Eastern Dive Boat Association in 1975.

With a fellow diver, Sal Arena, he owned the dive boat the Sea Hunter. "And then about 1981," said Bielenda, "John sold his share of it and came to crew for me for a couple of years on Wahoo," Bielenda’s dive boat, out of Captree State Park.

Later, going back into business for himself, Lachenmeyer and Persico leased a dive boat, Carol Lynne, before having their own vessel, the Sea Hawk, built and delivered in 1985.

"Together they built a successful brand and introduced a generation to Northeast wreck diving," said Persico’s son, Bob Persico, of Queens. The duo ran the Sea Hawk for 29 years, four more than any other dive boat on Long Island, Bielenda said. Persico died last year.

Lachenmeyer married Jean Florence Noon on Sept. 6, 1959. They lived in an apartment in Hempstead before moving to the house in Commack where they would raise their two children.

"Service was a huge thing for him," said his daughter, Linda Lachenmeyer Moeller, of Northport. "He'd come and fix anything for any of us at any time, from cars to plumbing to housing to everything. He built our shed in the back yard." With his son, John Joseph III, now of Texas, he bought a broken-down Corvette "and they redid the whole thing together and painted it." He did similarly with her own first car, a Mustang. "He fixed the engine and repainted it for me," she said.

In addition to his wife, daughter and son, Lachenmeyer is survived by his brother, Frederick, of New Mexico, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Lachenmeyer was cremated. A memorial and religious service is scheduled for Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Commack Abbey funeral home in Commack.