For over a decade, Frank Fritz was the guy who made you believe that someone’s rusty junk could actually be treasure. As one half of the History Channel’s American Pickers, he spent his days digging through barns, haggling over vintage motorcycles, and charming his way into deals that seemed impossible.
But then, in March 2020, Frank disappeared from the show without explanation. For months, fans wondered where he went. Then came cryptic statements from the network, public feuds with his co-star Mike Wolfe, and eventually, heartbreaking news about his health.
On September 30, 2024, Frank Fritz died at age 60. The story of what happened to him is complicated, tragic, and way more intense than anything that ever happened on camera.
Who Was Frank Fritz Before the Fame?
Frank Fritz wasn’t born into the antique world. He grew up in Davenport, Iowa, where he met Mike Wolfe at Sudlow Intermediate School. The two bonded over a shared obsession with collecting stuff, a passion that would eventually define both their careers.
But before Frank became famous, he was just a guy working regular jobs to finance his real love: motorcycles. He worked at Quad-City Automatic Sprinkler and Coast to Coast Hardware, saving up every penny until he could afford a $4,100 Harley-Davidson. When he finally brought it home, his parents nearly lost it over the price tag.
For 25 years, Frank worked as a fire inspector, limiting his picking hobby to firefighter memorabilia and firehouse trinkets. That all changed when he flipped an item he bought for $15 and sold it for $460. The math was simple: he could make way more money doing what he loved than punching a clock.
In 2002, Frank quit his job and opened “Frank Fritz Finds” in Savanna, Illinois. By 2010, he and Mike Wolfe were starring in American Pickers, and 3.7 million people tuned in to watch them hunt for rusty gold across America.
The Glory Days: “The Bearded Charmer”
On American Pickers, Frank was the deal-maker. Mike nicknamed him “the bearded charmer” because of his ability to talk sellers into parting with their treasures. While Mike was the aggressive frontman, Frank was the pragmatic negotiator who knew exactly what something was worth and wasn’t afraid to walk away if the price wasn’t right.
He had a weakness for vintage motorcycles, antique toys, and “petroliana” (old oil cans and gas station memorabilia). Mike frequently had to stop Frank from blowing the budget on yet another bike for his personal collection.
For over a decade, the show was a hit. Frank’s no-nonsense approach balanced Mike’s showmanship, and together they turned picking into must-see TV.
The Health Struggles Nobody Talked About
What viewers didn’t know was that Frank had been battling Crohn’s disease for over 27 years. Crohn’s is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that causes severe digestive issues, malnutrition, fatigue, and constant pain. It’s not the kind of condition you can just power through, especially when your job involves climbing through filthy barns and driving thousands of miles a week.
During seasons 8 and 9, fans started noticing Frank looked different. He’d lost around 65 pounds, and while he publicly attributed it to getting his Crohn’s under control through diet, the reality was more complicated. The weight loss was dramatic and visible, and people started asking questions.
“I started losing weight and ran with it!” Frank told the press, trying to spin it as a positive. He wanted to show people with Crohn’s that it was possible to live a productive life despite the disease. But behind the scenes, his health was deteriorating.
By 2020, Frank’s back issues had become unbearable. Years of hauling heavy antiques and navigating precarious structures had wrecked his spine. He needed surgery, and the recovery was going to take time.
The 2017 DUI: A Public Meltdown
Before all of this, there was another incident that gave fans a glimpse into Frank’s personal struggles.
On July 30, 2017, Frank was arrested on I-80 after making an illegal U-turn and driving the wrong way. When the officer pulled him over, Frank appeared confused, had slurred speech, and tested positive for alcohol, Xanax, and THC.
He was charged with Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) and later pleaded guilty. The plea deal included a $625 fine, $80 in court costs, a year of unsupervised probation, and mandatory substance evaluation and treatment.
In interviews afterward, Frank insisted he wasn’t a “big drug user” and didn’t have time for drugs. He explained that the Xanax was prescribed for anxiety, a condition he said was caused by the pressure of being a public figure. The THC, he claimed, was from smoking marijuana in Colorado three weeks before the arrest.
But the arrest revealed a deeper issue: Frank was struggling with substance abuse, and the combination of chronic pain, anxiety, and fame was pushing him toward a breaking point.
The Disappearance: March 2020
Frank’s last appearance on American Pickers aired in March 2020. At first, the show explained his absence as temporary. He needed back surgery, and COVID-19 had shut down production anyway. Fans assumed he’d be back once things returned to normal.
But months passed, and Frank didn’t return. The silence stretched for over a year, and speculation started building. Was he fired? Did he quit? What actually happened?
In July 2021, the History Channel officially confirmed that Frank would not be returning to the show. No explanation. No farewell episode. Just a quiet exit after more than a decade on air.
The Feud: Frank vs. Mike
That’s when things got messy.
In interviews, Frank didn’t hold back. He revealed that he felt betrayed by Mike Wolfe, the guy he’d considered a best friend for decades. The biggest grievance? Mike never called to check on him during his back surgery recovery.
“He knew my back was messed up, but he didn’t call me up and ask how I was doing. That’s just how it is,” Frank told the press. He admitted feeling like he’d always been “second fiddle” to Mike’s frontman persona, and the lack of support during his most vulnerable moment was the final straw.
Mike’s response? He publicly stated that Frank’s return was contingent on him dealing with his addiction issues. “We would absolutely love to have him back, but he just can’t get it right,” Mike said, making Frank’s struggles very public.
Danielle Colby, the show’s office manager, also weighed in with a lengthy Instagram post that essentially sided with Mike. She wrote that Frank had “caused so much pain for himself that it has been hard to watch,” implying his behavior had become impossible to work with.
For fans who had spent a decade watching their on-screen friendship, the public feud was brutal. These weren’t strangers having a falling-out. These were childhood friends who had built an empire together, and it was collapsing in real-time.
The Stroke That Changed Everything: July 2022
Then came the news that put everything in perspective.
In July 2022, Frank Fritz was found unresponsive on the floor of his Davenport, Iowa, home. He’d suffered a massive stroke. Not a minor event, not something he could bounce back from. A catastrophic cerebral infarction that left him unable to care for himself.
Medical reports filed in subsequent guardianship proceedings described his condition bluntly: his decision-making capacity was “so impaired that he is unable to care for his own safety.” He couldn’t perform basic daily activities. He needed 24/7 institutional care.
In August 2022, an Iowa court appointed Chris Davis, a longtime friend, as Frank’s legal guardian to make decisions about his physical care and medical treatment. MidWestOne Bank was appointed as conservator to manage his $6 million estate.
The court filing included a devastating detail: Frank had “no living relatives he maintains contact with.” His mother was dead. He had no wife or children. And his father, Bill Fritz, was apparently so estranged that he wasn’t even considered for guardianship.
Frank spent the next two years cycling between hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and assisted living facilities. He never fully recovered.
The Reconciliation: Memorial Day 2023
But here’s where the story takes an unexpected turn.
In May 2023, despite everything that had been said publicly, Frank reached out to Mike Wolfe. He wanted to see him. And Mike showed up.
According to sources close to both men, the reunion was intensely emotional. “They were both in tears. Both were crying,” a friend told the press. They talked about the early days, about being nervous before their first appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, about all the years they’d spent together building something from nothing.
Mike later said he realized that Frank’s hurtful comments in the press weren’t really Frank talking. They were “his addiction talking.” That understanding allowed Mike to forgive him, and the two men reconciled before it was too late.
The Final Moments: September 30, 2024
On September 30, 2024, Frank Fritz died in hospice care at age 60. The official cause of death was listed as “late sequela of cerebral infarction,” meaning the stroke he suffered in 2022 had caused a slow, terminal decline that his body couldn’t overcome.
Contributing factors included aortic stenosis (a narrowing of the heart’s aortic valve) and cerebral vascular disease (restricted blood flow to the brain). Combined with decades of Crohn’s disease, his body had simply endured too much.
But Frank didn’t die alone.
Mike Wolfe was at his bedside, along with Annette Oberlander, a lifelong friend of Frank’s and the best friend of his late mother. Mike described holding Frank’s hand and rubbing his chest as he took his last breath.
Recognizing that Frank was struggling, Mike whispered a final permission: “Just go find your mom. Go find her right now.”
Then Mike closed his friend’s eyes.
For all the public feuding, all the hurt feelings and accusations, in the end, Mike Wolfe was there. The reconciliation was real, and the friendship, battered as it was, survived until the very end.
The Estate Battle: A $6 Million Fight
But Frank’s death didn’t bring closure for everyone. In fact, it kicked off a massive legal battle that’s still playing out in Iowa probate court.
In October 2023, while Frank was still alive but under guardianship, he signed a Last Will and Testament. The will reportedly left the bulk of his $6 million estate to his friends and caregivers, the people who had been with him during his final years.
But there’s a problem: Frank was legally declared incapacitated in August 2022.
The court said he lacked the mental capacity to make decisions about his own care. So how could he have the capacity to execute a legally binding will 15 months later?
That’s the question at the center of the lawsuit filed by Frank’s father, Bill Fritz.
Bill is challenging the will on multiple grounds. He argues that Frank never regained the mental capacity to understand what he was signing.
He claims the guardians, who stood to benefit from the will, used their position of power to coerce a vulnerable, brain-injured man into signing away his estate.
And he alleges that he was deliberately isolated from his son to facilitate this “undue influence.”
“I am his only loved one… I am the only relation he has,” Bill Fritz stated in court filings. He claims the beneficiaries are just “people who worked for him,” not genuine family.
The defense argues that Frank experienced what’s called a “lucid interval,” a period of mental clarity during which he understood exactly what he was doing. Friends have stated publicly that despite his physical decline, Frank was “definitely in his right mind” about his wishes.
They say the will reflects his deliberate choice to leave his estate to the people who actually cared for him during his suffering, not a father who had allegedly been absent for years.
The stakes are extreme. If the will is upheld, Frank’s friends get the estate. If the will is thrown out, Bill Fritz inherits everything under Iowa’s intestacy laws (since Frank had no spouse or children).
There’s no middle ground. It’s all or nothing.
What Was Frank’s Estate Worth?
The $6 million figure isn’t just cash in a bank account. Frank’s estate includes:
- Vintage motorcycle collection: Frank’s true passion, featuring rare Hondas and Harleys. Because these bikes were owned by a celebrity picker, they carry a premium value.
- Antique toys and petroliana: His personal collection of the items he spent decades hunting.
- Real estate: His farmhouse in Iowa and potentially commercial properties.
- Residuals: As a lead on a hit cable show for over a decade, Frank likely continues to earn residual payments from reruns.
The problem? While the lawsuit drags on, these assets are essentially frozen. Motorcycles need maintenance. Real estate needs upkeep. And nobody can sell or distribute anything until the court decides who actually owns it all.
The Memorial: The Frank Fritz Man Cave
While lawyers fight over Frank’s money, his friends have moved forward with honoring his memory in their own way.
In Savanna, Illinois, close friends Jerry Gendreau and Annette Oberlander have created the “Frank Fritz Man Cave,” a permanent memorial designed to replicate Frank’s personal aesthetic.
It features a bar, a movie theater screening his favorite American Pickers episodes, and displays of his personal treasures.
A public dedication ceremony was scheduled for Memorial Day weekend 2025, the first major gathering of Frank’s “chosen family” since his death.
The existence of this memorial reinforces the argument that Frank had a loving community around him that he considered family, regardless of what the legal documents say.
The Legacy of Frank Fritz
Frank Fritz died at 60, after years of battling Crohn’s disease, addiction, spinal injuries, and the catastrophic stroke that ultimately took his life. His final years were marked by pain, legal battles, and estrangement from the show that made him famous.
But his legacy isn’t just about the tragedy. Frank Fritz turned picking into an art form. He validated the idea that “junk” could be history, that rusty motorcycles and old oil cans had stories worth preserving. He represented the blue-collar historian, the guy who saw value in things other people threw away.
And despite everything, despite the feuds and the lawsuits and the public meltdowns, Frank reconciled with his best friend before he died. Mike Wolfe was there at the end, holding his hand, giving him permission to let go.
The legal battle over his estate will continue. The Man Cave will open. The reruns of American Pickers will keep playing. But the man himself, the bearded charmer who spent his life searching America’s backroads for treasure, is gone.
And the question of who truly deserves to inherit what he left behind? That’s for the courts to decide.
