'American Pickers' star and Davenport native Frank Fritz dies

DAVENPORT — Frank Fritz, the Davenport native who found fame as an “American Picker,” has died. He was 60.

Fritz suffered a stroke in July 2022 and fought since that time to regain his mobility and strength. He spent two-plus years in and out of inpatient rehab, the hospital and, ultimately, hospice care, where he died Monday.

Despite his vigorous fight, additional health complications prevented him from a recovery.

Two of Fritz’s closest friends, including one who served as his guardian, have been at his side almost daily since his stroke.

“He fought really hard to get better,” said Annette Oberlander, a Davenport woman who is a longtime friend. “Numerous health conditions continually set him back.

“I want the world to know how hard he fought. I put hints (about his decline) on his Facebook page to sort of warn the world — let his supporters know and try to prepare.”

Fritz was widely recognized for his role on the History Channel program, “American Pickers,” where he starred for 11 years alongside creator and childhood friend Mike Wolfe.

The pair’s relationship was at one time strained — the result, Oberlander said, of spending 10-hour days together for weeks at a time over multiple years. The schedule took its toll on the friendship, but it survived.

“Mike Wolfe is not only a friend; he’s a devoted, die-hard friend,” she said. “He was with him at the end. That’s how they both wanted it.”

Members of the film crew from “American Pickers” also visited after the stroke, Oberlander said.

Fritz chose to be cremated, she said, and did not want a funeral or visitation. However, friends are making plans to honor his wish for a celebration of life.

The stroke in 2022 was the result of a blood clot in his leg. The clot formed, Oberlander said, after Fritz sustained a leg fracture when he hit a deer on his motorcycle.

“He worked hard every single day to make it back,” she said. “He’d make progress and there would be a setback. But he fought every day.”

Fritz spent his final months in a Quad City-area hospice facility, where his closest friends did what they could to help him battle back.

“He had many very good friends, and they knew how important their friendships were to Frank,” Oberlander said.

He operated Frank Fritz Finds in Savanna, Ill., which is a collection of sprawling buildings that contained many of the treasures he collected on “American Pickers” and on his own. He chose Savanna, he said, because Davenport was too close to LeClaire, which is where Wolfe’s retail operation is located.

Besides, he said, Savanna, “is a motorcycle community.”

During a tour of the property with a Quad City Times reporter in 2013, Fritz marveled at the celebrity that resulted from the show.

"We'll pull into some small towns, and there will be a couple hundred people waiting for us, because somebody leaked that we were coming," he said. "I haven't gotten used to the autographs. I'm just a guy from Davenport. I was born at St. Luke's Hospital (now Genesis). I still drive my car. I still live in my house. I'm still in the phone book."

He wanted word of his death to first appear in his hometown newspaper.