announcements

---

 I am very sad to let you know that Marty Franke passed away last Saturday evening.  He was with his wife Anne and was hospitalized with breathing difficulties earlier this week.

Marty was one of the early members of the Friends and a cornerstone of the Airport, leading the Airport Commission as Chairman since I have been involved.  Together with Jon Neville, he was the driving force behind bringing in the self-service fuel station in 2009 and making this public airport one of very few in Wisconsin that are financially self-sufficient with no funding required of its Owners, the Town of Gibraltar and the Village of Ephraim.

Marty's extensive business experience filled an important need as the Airport navigated an increasingly complex matrix of local, State and Federal laws, policies and procedures over the last 20 years, successfully obtaining the funding and approvals to meet the growing needs here.

I consider myself blessed to have gotten to know Marty and to have benefitted from his counsel and friendship.  He loved almost all things that were fast, having raced motorcycles and cars and I know it was a very difficult decision when he decided to retire from flying.

Marty will be sorely missed here, and our deepest condolences go out to his wife Anne.  Anne has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Friends Sponsorship/Scholarship Fund to continue to help Door County youth achieve their dreams of flying.  Donations can be made via our Join and Give page here, or by sending in a check to the address under Contact Us!  If you do an online donation, please leave a note that you did using the Contact Us! link.

Clear skies and a smooth ride home, Marty.