Ralph Frese

Ralph Frese, canoe maker and conservationist and prominent figure in the North American canoeing circles lived from 1926 until December 10, 2012. Frese lived in the Chicago area. He is known for promoting conservation and canoeing, building historic replica canoes, and starting canoeing and conservation organizations and events. Frese was also a fourth-generation blacksmith, operating in a building next to his Chicagoland Canoe Base store in Chicago and was said to probably have been the last blacksmith working in Chicago