Ralph Sydney Evinrude (1907 - 1986)

Born 27 Sep 1907 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Ancestors

Died 21 May 1986 at age 78 in Martin Memorial Hospital, Martin, Florida, United States

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Biography

Ralph Evinrude is Notable.

Ralph Sydney Evinrude was born Sept. 27, 1907 in Wisconsin. His father, Ole Evinrude, had invented and manufactured the fisherman's and sportman's light weight outboard motor.

Ralph, the only child, joined the family business of outboard motors, Elto Outboard Motor Co. in 1927 and worked on development of a new four-cylinder motor, the Elto Quad.

After his father’s death in 1934, Ralph headed the company. Elto Outboard Motor Co. merged with Johnson Motor Co. in 1936 to become Outboard Marine & Manufacturing Corp. (OMC). Ralph became the President and Director of the Corp. He spent 55 years with the business expanding it to include boats, lawn mowers, snow mobiles and chain saws. For the outboard motor; Ralph took an active role in the development of modern fully enclosed engine styling, noise silencing advances, electric starting and remote controls.

The company's operations were located in many nations outside the United States.

Ralph married Marion Eleanor Armitage, who was born in 1911. They married Jan. 3, 1931. Their children: Sally Lou Evinrude and Thomas Evinrude.

During the war years of 1941 to 1945, Ralph managed the company’s production of war related products.

After the war’s end, Ralph (a single man by then) met Frances Langford (the famous entertainer) while she was performing in a nightclub. He married Frances Langford in 1955 and moved to Jensen Beach, FL. He also retired from the OMC business.

During retirement he and Frances did many philanthropic activities. The activities were centered in Florida and in Wisconsin (the Outboard Motors home base). He founded the Ralph Evinrude School of Marine Technology at the Florida Institute in Port Canaveral, Florida.

Ralph S. Evinrude died on May 21, 1986 in Jensen Beach, FL.

In March of 2001 the outboard assets of OMC, namely Johnson and Evinrude, were sold to Bombardier of Canada. The new company stated they would continue with the fine outboard motor tradition.

• Fact: Residence (1910) Milwaukee Ward 8, , Wisconsin
• Fact: Residence (1920) Milwaukee Ward 18, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
• Fact: Residence (1930) Shorewood, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Fact: Residence (1935) Fox Point, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
• Fact: Residence (1940) Fox Point, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
• Fact: Burial (May 1986) Fernhill Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum, Stuart, Martin, Florida, United States
• Fact: Obituary (22 May 1986) Florida, United States
• Fact: Obituary (22 May 1986) San Diego, California, United States
• Fact: Obituary (22 May 1986) Georgia, United States
• Fact: Obituary (22 May 1986) Hackensack, New Jersey, United States
• Fact: Obituary (22 May 1986) Illinois, United States
• Fact: Obituary (22 May 1986) California, United States
• Fact: Obituary (22 May 1986) Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
• Fact: Obituary (23 May 1986) Pennsylvania, United States
• Fact: Obituary (23 May 1986) California, United States
• Fact: Prev Res2 (1 October 1997) Marquette, Michigan, United States
• Fact: Prev Res3 (01 Aug 1990-01 Jan 2009) Jensen Beach, Florida 34957
• Fact: Residence (1 Dec 2004) Jensen Beach, Martin, Florida, United States
• Fact: http://familysearch.org/v1/LifeSketch Ralph S. Evinrude (September 27, 1907 – May 21, 1986) was an American business magnate best known for being the Chairman of Outboard Marine Corporation, and the husband of singer and entertainer Frances Langford.

Evinrude was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Bess and Ole Evinrude. Evinrude's father had emigrated from Norway in 1882 and had developed the first commercially feasible outboard motor, thus creating a new industry and form of recreation. In 1927, Evinrude joined the family firm, Elto Outboard Motor Company after two years at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Ole Evinrude died on July 12, 1934 and Ralph Evinrude took over running the company. In 1936, Elto Outboard Motor Company merged with Waukegan, Illinois-based Johnson Motor Company to form Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC).

In 1936, the Board of Directors of OMC elected Evinrude president and director. In 1953, he was elected vice chairman of the board and chairman of OMC's Executive Committee. He became chairman of OMC in 1963. During his 55-year career in the family business, Evinrude collaborated with manufacturing giants such as Milwaukee based Briggs and Stratton, and expanded the company's product line to include boats, lawn mowers, snowmobiles and chain saws, and expanded operations worldwide. In 1982 when Evinrude retired as chairman, OMC had more than 9,000 persons employed in operations throughout the world. Evinrude married Joan "Bobbe" Everett in Lake Forest, Illinois in December 1951. In 1955, shortly after his divorce from his first wife, Evinrude married Frances Langford and moved to her estate in Jensen Beach, Florida. They shared interests in business and boating and spent much of their time aboard their 118-foot (36 m) yacht Chanticleer. They opened a resort in Jensen Beach called The Outrigger. Evinrude and Langford also maintained a cottage on a small island at the east end of Baie Fine, a fiord on the north shore of Georgian Bay, in Lake Huron, in what is now Killarney Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. Chanticleer was often seen tied up at the island during the summer.

During his later working years and during retirement, Evinrude supported a wide variety of philanthropic activities. Some of his interests focused on Florida and the marine industry, but others benefited Milwaukee-area hospitals, institutions of higher education and the arts.

Evinrude died at Martin Memorial Hospital in Stuart, Florida at the age of 78. OMC has a test center in Stuart which bears his name.

New York Times Obituary: Ralph Evinrude, the former head of the the Outboard Marine Corporation, which made the outboard boat motor used by millions, died today at the age of 78.

He died at Martin Memorial Hospital, where he was admitted May 2.

He suffered from chronic pulmonary disease, a hospital spokesman said.

Mr. Evinrude lived most of the year in nearby Jensen Beach, with his wife, the singer and actress Frances Langford.

He was the son of Ole Evinrude, who was credited with building the first outboard motor in 1907 and who started Evinrude Motors in 1909.

Ralph Evinrude was born Sept. 27, 1907, and attended the University of Wisconsin. He joined his father's company in 1927 and moved up to president in 1934.

Later, he also served as president, director and chairman of the board, stepping down as chairman of the Outboard Marine Corporation in January 1982 after 19 years in that position. The Outboard Marine Corporation was formed from the consolidation of the Outboard Motors Corporation with the Johnson Motor Company.

His first wife died and he divorced his second before marrying Miss Langford in 1955.

In 1982, Mr. Evinrude's 18-year-old granddaughter, Frances Julia Slater, was abducted from a store where she worked and was murdered. Three men were convicted and sentenced to death.

Besides his wife, Mr. Evinrude's survivors include one daughter, Sally Slater of Jensen Beach, and one son, Thomas Evinrude of Marquette, Michigan; four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Sources

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 03 January 2024, 19:10), entry for Ralph Sydney Evinrude (PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:242B-KXQ ); contributed by various users.

See also:

• This WikiTree profile is referenced from Wikidata: Item Q2052670, en:Wikipedia

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPKM-TGZ : accessed 9 September 2018), Ralph S Evinrude in household of Ole Evinrude, Milwaukee Ward 8, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 68, sheet 7B, family 113, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1725; FHL microfilm 1,375,738.

• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFK9-R8D : accessed 9 September 2018), Ralph S Evinrude in household of Ole Evinrude, Milwaukee Ward 18, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States; citing ED 217, sheet 2B, line 97, family 55, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 2003; FHL microfilm 1,822,003.

• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K7J2-6ML : 16 March 2018), Ralph Evinrude, Fox Point, Fox Point Village, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 40-9, sheet 6B, line 64, family 118, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 4500.

• "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J16C-GNL : 20 May 2014), Ralph Evinrude, May 1986; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

• Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 15 February 2021), memorial page for Ralph Sydney Evinrude (27 Sep 1907–21 May 1986), Find A Grave: Memorial #133255029, citing Fernhill Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum, Stuart, Martin County, Florida, USA ; Maintained by Martin Weybright (contributor 47169053) .

• "Florida Death Index, 1877-1998," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VV89-Q19 : 25 December 2014), Ralph Sydney Evinrude, 21 May 1986; from "Florida Death Index, 1877-1998," index, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : 2004); citing vol. , certificate number 51814, Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, Jacksonville.

• "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK7L-LXDC : accessed 9 September 2018), Ralph Evinrude, North Carolina, United States, 22 May 1986; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing Charlotte Observer, The, born-digital text.