Dr. Francis Thomas Bergin Jr.

Dr. Francis (“Frank”) Thomas Bergin, Jr. (Captain, U.S. Navy, retired) died peacefully at his home in Delray Beach, Florida, on December 15, 2024, at the age of 80 after a prolonged battle with illnesses stemming from his exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

He was a beloved brother to his older sister Maureen (Terry), as well as his younger sisters, Kathleen (Santacroce), Helen Marie (Kranz), Joan, Virginia, Eleanor (Ericson), Regina (Jackson), and Susan (Connaughton). He is dearly loved and survived by his wife, Carol (LeClair) Bergin, with whom he recently celebrated 56 years of marriage, and their son Francis Thomas Bergin III and his wife Kelly of Madison, New Jersey, daughter Katherine Bergin and her husband Brian Peterson of Delray Beach, Florida, and daughter Erin (Bergin) Earnst and her husband Collin of Foxborough, Massachusetts. He is also lovingly remembered by his six grandchildren Aileen, Aidan, Mary Clare, Liam, Kieran, and Colleen, as well as his many adored nieces, nephews, cousins, relatives, and friends. He is predeceased by his son, Michael Sean Bergin, and his sister, Alice Bergin.

A graduate of St. Mary’s High School in Waltham, Massachusetts, Dr. Bergin attended the College of the Holy Cross on a Navy ROTC scholarship. Upon graduating in 1965, he began his twenty-one year career as a U.S. Naval Officer, first serving aboard the USS Henrico (APA-45) and then going on to command several Swift boats that patrolled rivers deep in Vietnam. He was wounded during that tour, earning the Purple Heart, and was also awarded the Bronze Star, and a Presidential Unit Citation for his actions in battle.

Upon his return from Vietnam, he remained on active duty and transferred into the Navy’s medical branch, where he attended medical school at the University of Colorado. Dr. Bergin graduated in 1974, and then completed his residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He was subsequently stationed at the U.S. Naval Hospital at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California before returning to Bethesda in 1985, where after two years, he retired from the Navy and became a partner in a private medical practice in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

A memorial service with full military honors will be held in the future at Arlington National Cemetery. Details regarding the service will be available at www.JosephGawlers.com.

Memorial contributions may be made in Frank’s honor to the Crusader Athletics Fund at the College of the Holy Cross.