Ralph Frese

[pklonowski]

Ralph paddled on at 3:00 this morning. Services will be held at Simkins Funeral Home in Morton Grove 6251 Dempster Street Morton Grove, IL 60053
(847) 965-2500. http://www.simkinsfh.com/

Paddles up.

 

[Rob Stevens]

Here's a biographical video for those who didn't know Ralph;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clCeSFSevDU

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Wonderful video about a wonderful man-- thanks for sharing the link, Rob. I had the honor of conferring with Ralph on a Morris he was restoring-- and then saw the finished product when Denis and I visited a few years back, when a number of us got to see his canoe collection. What a great day that was! I can't help thinking what an inspiration Ralph must have been to so many, and what an incredible legacy he has left this world.

 

[MGC]

Folks would go in to his shop to buy a Grumman and leave with an Old Town or a Richardson .
He was a Johny Appleseed for canoes in the Midwest.

"Our sport of paddling canoes and kayaks is the only trail through nature that leaves no trace of your passing."
Ralph Frese

 

[Dan Miller]

Ralph was WCHA Member #86 - only 20 current members have lower numbers.

I had the pleasure of visiting him once while picking up a restoration job - a quick trip turned into a long lunch and an extensive tour of the shop and blacksmith shop. Never forgotten, but unfortunately, never got back either. Ralph did a lot of good for the canoeing world, I suspect if he had one regret, it is that his canoe museum never got off the ground. I still hope something will come of his collection in that respect.

Folks are posting memories here: http://ralphfrese.wordpress.com/

 

[WoodNCanvas]

I had the good fortune to meet Ralph in the late 1980s when I was working one summer at the Trailhead store in Toronto. Ralph and his wife were visiting Toronto....and dropped by. We got into a conversation on canoes and also on Kirk Wipper.

Ralph was wearing a T-shirt with his canoe store logo....and I mentioned how much I loved the story such a T-shirt told....all about the tradition of canoeing....a few weeks later Ralph sent me a T-shirt which I still cherish. The canoe on top of a buggy says it all...

 

[workingbadger]

Paddles up for Ralph. A man of many facets. I paddled a Canadienne, and will be forever grateful.

 

[bredlo]

Kathryn mentioned hers and Denis' Chicago visit in April of 2009. A nice sized group of us had a wonderful tour of Ralph's store, blacksmith shop, and not one but two storage facilities where he had beautiful old canoes squirreled away. Thought I'd repost these photos from that day, in case anyone missed them last time.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bredlo/sets/72157617299400699/

A few months later, a much smaller group of us (mostly WCHA members) helped ferry much of Ralph's collection to a new, safer environment than the WWII-era cold storage type building where it'd been for many years on Chicago's west side.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bredlo/sets/72157621408599313/