Frank J. Ferry

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Assistant U.S. Attorney Department of Justice Frank J. Ferry

Frank J. Ferry (born August 27, 1929) is an American lawyer and author of Nucky: The Real Story of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Boss. Ferry was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey to William Graham Ferry (graduate of University of Pennsylvania; May 16, 1899 – August 9, 1950) and Louise A. Ferry (December 6, 1901 – November 8, 1979). Frank's father's parents came to Atlantic City in 1890 and were engaged in the hotel business for over 70 years. Frank is a graduate of Ursinus College and Georgetown Law School, and served in the United States Navy between degrees. He served as Assistant U.S. Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice and was assigned to Camden, New Jersey, where he was in charge of civil and criminal divisions and served as chief trial attorney. Frank is a practicing lawyer at Farley, Fredericks, and Ferry law firm since 1961 alongside Senator Frank S. "Hap" Farley. He has been a member of the State, Atlantic County and American Bar Association, Chairman of the United States District Court Committee, Trustee of the Atlantic County Bar Association, member of the Supreme Court District Ethics Committee, and Chairman of the Judicial Appointment Committee. His second book, "Hap": Dean of the New Jersey Senate, and subtitled The Art of Bipartisan Politics, details the life and legislation of Senator Frank S. Farley, the most effective legislator in the history of New Jersey and an early pioneer for civil rights, and is forthcoming.

Early life

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Ferry (second from left) receiving an award as a member of the Atlantic City Beach Patrol

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Frank J. Ferry (right) and John Daly (left) at the 32nd Annual Atlantic City Beach Patrol Swimming Championship on August 16, 1950

Frank J. Ferry was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and attended Holy Spirit High School, receiving his diploma in 1948. He then went to Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania where he received his BA in political science. While in high school and college, Frank was very athletic, being a member of the basketball teams and serving on the Atlantic City Beach Patrol every summer. In basketball, he won the Knights of Columbus Sportsmanship Award in 1947 and the Ventnor League Foul Shooting Trophy in 1947. During high school, he was a member of the Y.M.C.A. Championship Basketball Team in 1945 and the Atlantic City League Championship in 1948. In college, he was a member of the Ursinus College Intramural Championship Team in 1951 and 1952. As a member of the Atlantic City Beach Patrol, Frank received numerous awards: the George B. Hansall Memorial Swim in 1948, third place in the Middle Atlantic Association in 1948, second place in the National Lifeguard Championships (one man rescue) in 1948, and the Betty Bacharach Trophy in 1950. Ferry was also the 1950 champion of the Atlantic City Beach Patrol swimming race (a course from States Avenue and then swimming around Steel Pier to South Carolina Avenue); also, he was the 1950 Champion of the Absecon Island Lifeguard Pool race. In addition to basketball and swimming, Frank J. Ferry is also enthusiastic about boxing and genealogy.

In between high school and college, Frank J. Ferry enlisted in the Naval Reserves on June 22, 1948. He was in active duty from July 14, 1952, until May 1, 1953, and served aboard the destroyer escort USS GYATT-DD 712 that patrolled the Atlantic Ocean to monitor Russian submarines. He received honorable discharge and was given credit of four years, ten months, and ten days of naval service. In recognition of his time serving, Frank received the National Defense Medal, Cold War Recognition Certificate, Navy Good Conduct Medal, and the Atlantic County Veteran's Service Medal on 2007.

After graduating from Ursinus College in 1952, Frank attended Georgetown University Law Center in Washington D.C., where he would later graduate with his J.D. (Juris Doctor Degree) in 1956. In 1957, Frank was admitted to the New Jersey Bar, and in 1958, he was admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Later, in 1961, he was admitted to the Tax Court and Treasury Department of the United States and the United States Federal District Court and United States Bankruptcy Court.

Federal experience

On May 14, 1958, Frank was appointed Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey by the United States Attorney General William P. Rogers, and served until October 6, 1961, in Camden, New Jersey. In his last year of service with the Department of Justice, he was in charge of the Civil and Criminal Division of the South Jersey area. The Judicial District encompassed six and a half counties in South Jersey with a population of close to one million in 1960. His responsibilities included:

1. Drafting and presenting criminal indictments to the United States Grand Jury and prosecuting criminal trials before the United States District Court, including convicting members of the notorious Angelo Bruno crime family in Philadelphia
2. Conviction of a major contractor of U.S Army uniforms during the Korean War for corruption of Quartermaster Corps and income tax evasion
3. Defending and prosecuting claims involving the United States in the United States District Court, argument of motions on behalf of the government, and presentation of the monthly Criminal Calendar before the Federal Court
4. Representing the government before the United States Referee in Bankruptcy, the United States Commissioner, and the United States Third Circuit County of Appeals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
5. General administrating of civil and criminal matters, coordinating investigations and trials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Narcotics Bureau, Internal Revenue Service, Secret Service, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax, Postal Inspectors, Department of Labor, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Farmers Home Administration, Department of the Army and Navy, Railroad Retirement Agency, Accounting Office, U.S. Probation Office, Pure Food and Drug Administration, and Interstate Commerce Commission.

Due to personal interest and his close acquaintance to Senator Frank S. "Hap" Farley, Frank Ferry was also able to attend numerous political events throughout his life, including the following:

1. Inauguration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Washington, D.C. in 1941. Frank was newspaper delivery boy for the Philadelphia Bulletin and won the trip to the Inauguration.
2. Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, when Lyndon B. Johnson was nominated in 1964
3. Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida, in 1968 with Senator Farley when Richard M. Nixon was nominated in 1968
4. Inauguration of President Richard M. Nixon in Washington, D.C. in 1969 with Senator Farley
5. Rally of Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on May 9, 2016

Legal experience

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Frank J. Ferry (second from right) is installed as 1st Vice President of the Atlantic County Chapter of the Federal Bar Association on August 12, 1965, at the Traymore Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey

From 1961 to the present, Frank Ferry has been practicing law at Farley, Fredericks, and Ferry law firm at One South New York Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey. There, he worked alongside associates Senator Frank S. Farley (died 1977), Paul J. Farley (died 1974), and Murray Fredericks (died 1988). In 1990, the firm moved to 5217 Atlantic Avenue in Ventnor City, New Jersey. In the past and present, Frank Ferry has represented private clients in jury and non-jury litigation in the Superior County of New Jersey and prepared appeals before the Appellate Division and Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey, making appearances before such courts. He specializes in advising clients in estate planning and real estate transactions. However, he has also been involved in representing defendants in criminal indictments before the Superior Court in Mays Landing, New Jersey, and the United States Federal Court in Camden, New Jersey.

Frank J. Ferry has been a member of legal associations including the following:

• Atlantic County Bar Association- past Trustee, 1964; Chairman of the U.S. District Court Committee, 1962; Member of District Ethics Committee, 1976–1979; Chairman of the Judicial Appointment Committee
• Federal Bar Association- Vice President, 1966
• American Bar Association
• New Jersey Bar Association
• Continuing Legal Education- attendee at numerous seminars in Philadelphia and New York City conducted by the Practicing Law Institute, the American Bar Association, American Trial Lawyers Association and New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education
• American Arbitration Association- panel member of arbitrators, 1991
• Martindale-Hubbell Rating- "b" "v"- high to very high legal ability in 1990

Family

Frank J. Ferry has three siblings: William Graham "Buddy" Ferry, Jr., Sarah "Sally" Louise Ill, and Mary Ann Brennan. Buddy graduated from Ursinus College in 1952, served as President of the Atlantic City Board of Assessors and passed in July 2010. Sarah "Sally" Louise Ill was married to Lieutenant Colonel Theodore III of the United States Army, a highly decorated combat veteran of the Korean War, who passed in 1983. They had two children and Sally passed in October 2002. Mary Ann married Stephen Brennan, a graduate from University of Notre Dame. They had five children. She passed in May 2012 and Stephen passed in 2022.

Frank J. Ferry has two daughters, Mary Louise Ferry Wimmer and Anne Marie McGinty. Mary Louise is a graduate of St. Joseph's University in 1982 and is the owner and broker of record for Farley and Ferry Realty, Inc. in Ventnor City, New Jersey. Anne Marie is a graduate of the University of Miami in 1988 and Widener University of Law in 1992. Anne Marie was admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and practiced law with the firm of Brown, Michael & Carroll, P.C. and suspended her career to raise her two children.

Municipal experience and civic and social organizations

Frank J. Ferry was appointed Ventnor City Solicitor on April 19, 1967, and resigned on September 17, 1968. His duties included drafting municipal ordinances and resolutions together with filing tax foreclosure liens, attending council meetings, and advising council on legal and community problems.

He has also been a member of many civic and social organizations in the area, both past and present, including:

• Ursinus Alumni Association
• Georgetown University Alumni Association
• Holy Spirit High School Alumni Association
• Holy Spirit High School (Chairman of special gifts fund raising for new sports complex 1982)
• U.S. Naval Academy Athletic Association (member since 1982)
• Atlantic City Lifeguard Pension Commission (supervisor of pension disbursements to retired members 1960–1972)
• Atlantic City Special Events Committee- legal counsel that brought the first Liberty Bowl Football Classic to Atlantic City in 1964 and staged the Little Army-Navy Football Game and the traditions Holy Spirit-Atlantic City High School football game in Convention Hall on the boardwalk
• Atlantic County Historical Society (Trustee)
• The Great Egg Harbor Township Historical Society (past Vice President)
• Atlantic County Hospice (volunteer in 1995)
• Morris Guards- military drilling organization with social and military functions (1945)
• Friendly Sons of St. Patrick- a social and fraternal organization (President 1972–1973) and Man of the Year Award in 1995
• Chief Arthur R. Brown, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Foundation (Charter Trustee 1992)
• Police Chiefs Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania- law enforcement group organized to coordinate mutual enforcement concerns in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and South Jersey between local police and federal agents (honorary lifetime membership 1963)
• Holy Name Society of Saint James Church- Catholic organization to promote participation in church activities (President 1963)
• Serra Club of Atlantic County- Catholic organization to promote fellowship among men and foster vocations to the priesthood and religious life (President 1972)
• Ventnor City Recreation Commission (supervisor of recreation for Ventnor City until 1967)
• Atlantic City Country Club (1989–1996)
• Linwood Country Club, past member

Nucky: The Real Story of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Boss

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Author Frank J. Ferry poses with copies of his biography of Nucky Johnson

On January 20, 2013, Frank J. Ferry's first book, Nucky: The Real Story of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Boss was launched, appearing on numerous television and radio shows. Frank spent 13 years researching the life and times of Enoch L. "Nucky" Johnson to develop the true story of his career. He served as Nucky's personal attorney during the last four years of Nucky's life and was also the legal counsel of Nucky's right-hand man and leader of the Fourth Ward Republican Party James H. "Jimmy" Boyd. Additionally, Frank was the law partner of Senator Frank S. "Hap" Farley (and, later, executor of his estate), who succeeded Nucky as the Republican leader, allowing Ferry free access to others in Nucky's political organization.

The book was launched on January 20, 2013, Nucky's 130th birthday, to an enthusiastic crowd at the Knife and Fork Restaurant in Atlantic City---Nucky's favorite dining spots. Frank has appeared on four television shows and eight talk radio broadcasts throughout South Jersey, Philadelphia, and Las Vegas. He has given nineteen presentations of his book locally, as well as in Trenton and Morristown, New Jersey. Ferry has had sixteen book signings, twenty newspaper and magazine interviews.

Awards

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Certificate congratulating Ferry for receiving the 2010 Citizen of the Year Award from the Chief Arthur R. Brown, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Foundation

Frank J. Ferry has received the following awards:

• New Jersey Senate Citation- Citizen of the Year- 2010
• New Jersey General Assembly Resolution of Congratulations being named as citizen of the year in 2010
• United States Congressional Recognition Certificate for 50 years of legal service on May 13h, 2010
• New Jersey Senate and Assembly Citation of April 14, 2016 for 50 years of practicing law
• Holy Spirit High School Athletic Varsity Letter in Swimming- 1948
• The Holy Spirit Parish Award- for legal assistance to the Parish- September 23, 1967
• Around the Island Swim Award- Rowing- 1955, 1979, and 1980
• Friendly Sons of St. Patrick- "Outstanding Man of the Year" - 1995
• Annual St. Patrick's Day Boardwalk Parade- Atlantic City, New Jersey- Grand Marshall 2014
• Golden Link Award for legal services to the elderly from Atlantic County- 2003
• Chief Arthur R. Brown, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Foundation- "Citizen of the Year" - 2010
• Eastern Service Workers Association Certificate of Appreciation for legal assistance to low income workers on July 9, 2011
• Atlantic County Historical Society- "Bringing History to Life" 2012
• Atlantic City Beach Patrol- Thomas McMeekin Distinguished Service Award- 2013

Later years

Frank's federal and legal experience has afforded him the opportunity to travel, including Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Switzerland, Ireland (four times), Spain, Portugal, Hungary, England, Netherlands, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and various parts of the United States. Ferry is currently finishing his forthcoming second book, "Hap": The Dean of the New Jersey Senate, which details the life and legislative accomplishments of Frank S. "Hap" Farley, the New Jersey State Senator and the most effective legislator in the history of New Jersey and early pioneer for civil rights.

References

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