Mark Holzer

Mark Holzer

What can you say about a man who loved his family, friends, job, every type of sport, his dogs, hunting, fishing, building things, electronics, playing pranks on people, and all the adventures? That we will absolutely miss everything about him in every way.

Mark was born on December 30, 1956 to Anton Holzer and Helen (Waliser) Holzer and grew up in Bismarck with his younger brother, Dan. As children, they enjoyed swimming, bike riding, hunting and fishing with their dad and uncles. Mark spent the summers helping out on his grandparents' farm when he was a teenager. He saved up enough money to buy his own calves and eventually had his own herd. Mark attended Riverside Elementary, St. Mary's High School and graduated from Mary College. In high school, he was a lifeguard during the summer, played legion baseball and played football for St. Mary's. He was also in the boy scouts as a child where he was nominated to an Eagle Scout, and was in a number of leagues including bowling, golf, and softball. He always looked forward to playing in the McQuade tournaments in the summer.

Mark married Tamara (Sease) Holzer in 1983, his wife of 42 years, and had two daughters: Jordan, born in 1986, and Lexi in 1990. The girls were in a number of sports throughout their lives and Mark was always their biggest fan, making it to every game, even if it meant traveling out of town. He also taught them how to fish, hunt and shoot bow and treasured those moments with them. The Holzers bought their first and only house and property outside of town where they lived for 40 years. There, Mark enjoyed doing many projects around the house and always took pride in fixing things himself. He built decks, fences, put in flooring and counter tops, planted many trees and gardens, built a tree house and an extra garage shop on the property. Every winter when his girls were younger, he would look forward to pouring an ice rink in the back yard for them to skate on and to play hockey.

In high school Mark worked in construction and later on worked at Super Value Warehouse. He was eventually promoted to Warehouse Supervisor, later on Dispatcher, and then worked as the Transportation Manager. He worked there for 20 years and really enjoyed his job and the people he worked with. He also worked with the union contracts and negotiations, as well as OSHA for safety compliance and training. For the last 25 years, Mark worked from home selling, installing, training and consulting for a game and fish licensing program. He loved his clients, his friend and business partner Kevin Leir, and loved flying with the biologists to find and count the herds of buffalo, antelope, deer and elk.

Mark loved people and loved helping people. If someone needed a roof shingled, a deck built, something painted or any other project done, Mark was always there to help. Holidays were his favorite, especially Christmas. Every year he looked forward to holidays and parties to cook for guests and prepare delicious food. Football season was relished by Mark and every Sunday was spent watching football at his brother Dan's house in their favorite Viking attire. This fall, his brother Dan is at the University of Minnesota recovering from a heart transplant. He was so excited to go visit him in the cities to watch a few games together. Mark also loved his mother very much. He always looked forward to her cooking and baking, card games and holiday parties. His dad passed away when he was 19 and he and his brother Dan helped their mom take care of things and were always there for her until her death in 2020.

Hunting and fishing were a passion for him. Elk, deer, antelope, pheasant and geese were a few of his favorite things to hunt and he processed a lot of his own wild game. He mainly fished for walleye and salmon and would go to multiple different states with his friends on hunting and fishing trips including Canada for goose hunting. Throughout his life he had 4 different hunting dogs which he loved dearly, Ajah, Hannah, Baxter and Rudy. Golf was fun for Mark, especially in the last few summers, and appreciated his friends on the league. He would always be smiling when he talked about his "hole in one" years ago.

Mark loved to go on vacations and adventures including a lot of skiing in Big Sky, Montana and camping and fishing at Lake Sakakawea in earlier years. Later he started to make a yearly trip to Mexico with his family and visited his daughter Lexi in Colorado and Oregon when she moved there. They went on many hikes, visited waterfalls and took many trips to different parts of the ocean. And of course, Mark always loved to eat out and try different delicious types of food and drinks.

He was always in motion and always looking for the next adventure. The only time he rested was the last week of his life while in a hospice bed at home where he was surrounded by his family. Mark spent the last three years doing chemotherapy and radiation, where he continued to do all of his activities and didn't let anything slow him down. Although the cancer had metastasized to his organs and bones, he continued to fish, golf, work, travel and do home projects until the last month of his life.

Mark was preceded in death by his father, Anton Holzer; and mother, Helen (Waliser) Holzer. He leaves behind his wife, Tamara; daughters, Jordan and Lexi; his brother, Dan (Martha) Holzer; and nephew, Nick (Shadai, and daughter, Apple) Holzer.

A memorial service will be held 10:30 a.m. Friday, October 3 at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Pkwy, Bismarck. Family will greet guests one hour prior.

To share memories of Mark and to sign the online guestbook, go to www.parkwayfuneral.com.