Ralph Evinrude, 78; Scion of Inventor of Outboard Motor

Ralph Evinrude, head of the famed outboard motor company that his father founded, has died at Martin Memorial Hospital here. He was 78 and had been admitted to the hospital May 2 suffering from a pulmonary disorder.

Evinrude, chairman of the board of Milwaukee-based Outboard Marine Corp., which produced the motor used by millions of pleasure boaters and fishermen, died Tuesday.

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

Ralph Evinrude lived in nearby Jensen Beach, a quiet Florida Atlantic Coast city, most of the year with his wife, former singer and actress Frances Langford.

Evinrude’s 18-year-old granddaughter, Frances Julia Slater, was abducted from a nearby convenience store where she worked in 1982 and murdered. Three men were convicted in the slaying and are on Florida’s Death Row.