Victor Fricke

Victor was commissioned as an Ensign in the Naval Reserve in 1969 and spent three years
on active duty on a guided missile destroyer, including two deployments to the Viet Nam
battle zone and a maintenance and modernization overhaul. After the period of active duty,
Victor remained an active member of the Naval Reserve for another twenty years, eventually
retiring as a Commander.

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While working as a nuclear engineer designing power plants, Victor became interested in
wood carving and wood turning. He joined a local wood carving club and learned to make
small wooden objects. Victor organized a club project in support of wounded warriors with
mobility-limiting injuries. Working with the Wounded Warriors organization and the Augusta
Georgia VA Hospital, the woodcarving club produced handmade walking canes for 24
seriously injured veterans. The club members carved eagle head handles, and Victor turned
hardwood shafts and embellished them with the recipient’s name, rank, date and location of
injury, and military decorations.

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Victor joined a woodturning club, attended training classes and symposia, became a
member of the American Association of Woodturners, and attended the John C. Campbell
Folk School to polish his woodturning skills. He learned how to make “basket illusions”.
These are single pieces of hardwood, turned on a lathe into the shape of a bowl or platter,
and embellished with pyrography, colored ink, and fiber additions until it looks exactly like a
woven piece of Native American basketry.