Ernest “Ernie” Lee Albee

Longtime North Fork resident Ernest “Ernie” Lee Albee passed away at his home in New Suffolk after a brief illness on Sept. 28, 2026, at the age of 65. 

He was born on June 11, 1961, in Plattsburgh, N.Y., where his father had been stationed in the Air Force. After his parents separated, his mother, Judith Lee Hallock, brought Ernie and his younger brother David to Long Island, where Judith had family. When Ernie was a child, they moved to Commack and then to Laurel, where Ernie started first grade at Laurel School. He and his cousins Dan and Tim Hallock were inseparable and had many camping and biking adventures on the North Fork and Shelter Island. Ernie went on to Mattituck-Cutchogue High School and graduated in 1978. After graduation, he hitchhiked to California and back before attending Suffolk Community College, where he discovered his love of reading, an avocation that he pursued with a wide-ranging passion for the rest of his life.

Ernie was a particular fan of history and historical fiction, especially the Outlander series. When the books were made into a TV series, he told his daughter Kayla, also a big fan, that he refused to watch the show because he had pictures of each of the characters in his mind’s eye and didn’t want to spoil those images with new ones. Such attention to detail was characteristic of Ernie, whom his family and friends all describe as having been “meticulous and methodical.”

In addition to reading, Ernie loved to hike and camp, together with his wife Darby Moore, whom he married in 2009. Their lovely home in New Suffolk, with its tidy landscaping and gardens, reflected Ernie’s talents as a gardener. He was also a Deadhead, a talented leather worker, and a keen target and skeet marksman. He and Darby made frequent trips to parks in upstate New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maine, with his favorite being Acadia National Park.

Over the years, Ernie had a series of jobs in construction and renovation, as a machinist, a boat builder, a handyman, owner of a tanning salon, and finally, for about the last 10 years, at Ace Hardware in Southold, where he was responsible for final assembly of the barbecue sets, wheelbarrows, and other items sold at the store. His mother Judith notes that Ernie’s job at Ace, with its independent workspace in the store’s basement, was “perfectly suited” to Ernie’s methodical and disciplined work habits and his love of working with his hands. She described it as being the best job he ever had. John Stanislau, a coworker and supervisor at Ace, says Ernie was indispensable to the store’s operation.

Darby Moore was the love of Ernie’s life. She survives him, as do his mother Judith Hallock of Coram; his daughter Kayla Albee of Nashville, Tenn.; and his brother David Hallock of Farmingville, N.Y.

A Celebration of Life Ceremony will be held at the DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Mattituck on Sunday, Nov. 15, from 3 to 5 p.m.

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