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Born in 1951 in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, Al Friedman was the only child of a union carpenter who worked without a vacation until age 67—an example of hard work and responsibility that stuck with him when it mattered. An only child with very protective parents he was kept focused on his studies through High School, and was an A student. But when he entered Brooklyn College in 1968 he promptly discovered all the fun his upbringing had postponed. He graduated in 1972 with a B.A. in Psychology, a lousy GPA, and, as he'll tell you, no career plans whatsoever. But boy was college a good time.
After a few years of dead-end jobs, he took some good advice, enrolled in night school at Baruch, and earned an MBA in Accounting in 1979 while working full-time—later adding his CPA. So began a four-decade career in auditing: traveling internal auditor for Colt Industries visiting plants throughout the South, then Merrill Lynch, then seven very demanding, formative years at Coopers & Lybrand, where he rose to audit manager. In 1991 he joined Republic National Bank, and after its sale to HSBC in 1999 he decided to move on and took a job as chief audit officer for a small Rockland County bank, Provident. This “couple-year" experiment lasted 20 years, as Provident was a steady acquirer and grew from $800 million to $32 billion in assets during that period, keeping Al challenged beyond his expectations. They took on the name of an acquired bank along the way - Sterling National Bank. He retired in 2022, at the age of 71, upon Sterling's acquisition by Webster - and many long years of commuting 49 miles each way over the Tappan Zee.
Al moved to Westport in 1997 and raised his two daughters there, as a single dad with full custody from 2007 when they were 11 and 13 - a role that made them exceptionally close (he once even received a Mother's Day card). Both are Staples graduates, and after college they returned to jobs and residences nearby in Stamford. This spring he welcomed his first grandchild; remarkably, Amy, his partner of 17 years, became a grandmother the very next day. Since 2016 he has faced down mantle cell lymphoma, now in remission thanks to a newer targeted therapy. A lifelong baseball fan (Yankees first, Mets since the Miracle of '69), Al fills his days with the gym, breakfast groups, and family, and looks forward to new friendships through the Y's Men.
(Interview and Bio by Clarence Hayes)
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