York Fredrickson was the owner and premier artist
of Tattoo York's, Great Falls first professional tattoo studio.
He was born August 3, 1953 at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. to Floyd and Kay Fredrickson. His family moved to Great Falls in1963. He was a graduate of CMR, and spent the majority of his life in the Great Falls area where he made many lifelong friends.
His interests included animals and reptiles of all shapes and sizes. At any given time his pets could include anything from baby bats, turtles, lizards, and snakes, to his favorite type of dog- a Doberman pinscher.
He loved fishing and the outdoors. He often went for long mountain drives and fishing trips. He also loved to barbeque with family and friends. There is hardly an area of Montana where he didn't have a story about a party with friends, or a fishing trip .
York's interest in tattoos was natural. His airforce father had a tattoo, and York was always a talented artist. He began what was to become his life's work by hand-poking tattoos onto his young neighborhood friends. Needless to say, York was not well-liked by neighborhood moms.
His own mom was against tattoos, and York would often tell the story where she chased him down and used a razor blade to try and scrape off the first tattoo he gave himself. This didn't stop his fascination with tattoos and although he tried other jobs, his true interest was always tattooing.
At that time, there were very few people who knew how to tattoo. York traveled to an old artist who wasn't interested in teaching anyone anything, to get his own tattoos. He tried to learn by watching, but didn't really learn much. The majority of York's knowledge came from continuing to work on his friends and learning by trial and error. His friends didn't mind, and actually came back for more. After a while, they started trading things for tattoos and then paying for them.
Finally, York decided it was time for his own shop. His first one was on Central Ave. Some of his first customers were from Dahl's School of Beauty. From there, he moved his shop to 2nd Ave. just outside the base. Many people remember being worked on there and admiring his 4 foot python and collection of reptiles.
York next moved his shop to 10th Ave. South, and there is where he experienced the greatest success. His shop was always part curiosity shop and part tattoo studio. There was always something new to see. He collected skulls and swords and all kinds of interesting items. Many of his customers would bring him things that reminded them of him. He had many handmade items from his friends in Browning and across the state.
He always had a way of putting people at ease with his easy conversation and large selection of music. Not to say he was always nice, if you happened to get your tattoo done somewhere else and wanted him to fix it, he'd tell you exactly what he thought of the work and that you should have come to him in the first place. Then he might fix it, or he might tell you to live with it.
To the people who knew him, he seemed gruff and grumpy much of the time, but if you looked closely, you could see the smile lurking under the mustache. His rough exterior hid a soft heart. He came off tough because he didn't want to be taken advantage of, but he was always there to help out if you were really in need. He was a great uncle, brother, son, and friend to many people. He left his mark on many hearts, as well as bodies. He is truly missed and still loved by all who had the privilege of knowing him.
