NEWS'American Pickers' Star Frank Fritz Was 'Totally Bedridden' Before His Tragic Death: 'He Felt Really, Really Bad'
Frank Fritz passed away in September 2024.
Oct. 10 2024, Published 5:34 p.m. ET
Frank Fritz was struggling in the last few years of his life, his friend Jerry Gendreau said in a new interview.
The star died at 60 years old.
“He felt really, really bad,” Gendreau told The Sun about Fritz, who passed away on September 30 at age 60.
“You would go to see him in the nursing home and one-half of his body was completely done,” Gendreau added. “He would lift his arm up and it would just drop. That’s got to be tough to be totally bedridden.”
Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz reconciled their friendship before his death.
Fritz, who suffered a stroke in July 2022, on top of having Crohn's disease and underwent back surgery in 2021, was "frustrated" with his body.
“I’ve seen this when people get tired, they get tired. I think if you don’t have the will to live, you won’t,” said Gendreau. “I think Frank could’ve lived a lot longer if the will to live would’ve been there.”
“Frank was pretty much a what you see is what you get guy. His faults were his faults,” Gendreau continued. “You can’t fault anybody for being what they are. He was a right is right and wrong is wrong kind of person. He made a mark on history.”
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As OK! previously reported, Fritz died in a hospice facility in Iowa.
“This is a very tough announcement to make Frank passed away last night around 7:30,” his family wrote in a Facebook post. “He was surrounded by myself, Mike Wolfe made a high speed to get back here from Nashville and other friends.”
The statement continued, “Please understand this is a very rough time for us. Including Mike so be kind as we are trying to figure out how to cope with this. Thank you all for your love and support through the years.”
Mike Wolfe, Frank Fritz's costar, was by his side when he died.
Wolfe, who starred alongside Fritz in American Pickers, also confirmed the sad news via Instagram. “It’s with a broken heart that I share with all of you that Frank passed away last night,” he wrote alongside a photo with his late friend and costar. “I’ve know Frank for more then half my life and what you’ve seen on TV has always been what I have seen, a dreamer who was just as sensitive as he was funny. The same off camera as he was on, Frank had a way of reaching the hearts of so many by just being himself.”
