MARQUETTE COUNTY -- Thomas Friggens is retiring as director of the Michigan Iron Industry Museum after 37 years of employment with the State of Michigan.
Friggens has been director of the museum since 1985 and is also manager of the Michigan Historical Center's field sites.
Friggens began his work for the state in 1974 in Lansing, working for the Michigan Historical Center. He then became manager at Fort Wilkins Historic State Park in Copper Harbor.
During Friggens time at the Iron Industry Museum, there was an expansion in 2005, two outdoor trails, a new access road, and auditorium seating.
Friggens is the author of No Tears in Heaven, a book that recounts the Barnes-Hecker mine disaster of 1926, in which 51 miners lost their lives.
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