Frank Fritz, part of a two-man team who drove around the U.S. looking for antiques and collectibles to buy and resell on the reality show "American Pickers," has died.
He died Monday night at a hospice facility in Davenport, Iowa, said Annette Oberlander, a longtime friend. She said he was 60, not 58, as some websites and news sources said.
She said she was at his bedside, as was Mike Wolfe, who starred with Fritz for more than a decade on the History Channel program.
"The same off camera as he was on, Frank had a way of reaching the hearts of so many by just being himself," Wolfe said in an Instagram post mourning the loss of his friend.
In American Pickers, Fritz and Wolfe visited mainly small towns and rural areas in search of items. They often would crawl through dusty barns and crowded garages, flashlight in hand to dig out items that they could resell at an antique shop in Iowa.
Fritz often was drawn to antique toys, and he would banter in a good-natured way with sellers as they sought to arrive at a price.
Occasionally they would stumble upon more notable finds, such as a dilapidated van in the woods of a small Massachusetts town that the band Aerosmith toured in before they started filling stadiums with tens of thousands of fans.
Oberlander said Fritz had a stroke in 2022 and never fully recovered. She said a celebration of life, which will include a motorcycle run, will likely happen in the spring.
"He was a fierce friend," Oberlander said. “He leaves behind an incredible amount of friendships because that's what was most important to him. A very large amount of friendships. Close friendships."
