Darrel Holtz – Residence Focus

Darrel Holtz, 81, of Gilbert, passed away peacefully at home on Thursday, June 20, 2024, after a hard-fought battle with cancer.

He was born June 15, 1943 at home on the north farm in Raymond to Irvin and Irene (Thompson) Holtz. Darrel graduated from Raymond High School in 1961. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves in 1961 and served proudly until he was honorably discharged in 1968. He completed his training as an X-ray technician at Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar and was certified by the ARRT in 1964.

Darrel’s first job in the imaging industry was as a chief radiologic technologist at the hospital in Montevideo, Minnesota. He soon got a job at Mayo Clinic in Rochester as a special procedures technologist. There he helped install the country’s first CT scanner. On June 19, 1973, he performed the very first CT scan in the Western Hemisphere. This was by far the proudest achievement of his professional life.

He was able to attend Mayo Clinic’s 50th anniversary celebration of this pivotal development in medical history in 2023. After his time at Mayo Clinic, he was hired at St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Paul to coordinate the installation of the city’s first full hospital. body CT scanner. He then went to work in medical device sales and as a technologist at Twin Cities hospitals doing CT and MRI. After working for more than ten years at the MN Ministry of Health as an inspector in the Radiation Control X-ray department, he retired in 2005.

Darrel met Judy (Skerbitz) on a blind date in Rochester while he was working at Mayo and she was completing a residency at St. Mary’s School of Nursing. They married in Aurora in 1967. Together they had three children. He and Judy traveled throughout the US and Europe whenever possible.

Darrel was a faithful member of every church he attended and served on the church council while living in Inver Grove Heights. He enjoyed big band music, playing drums, attending MN Gopher football games and spending time with all his family and friends. Darrel and Judy moved to Bass Lake after retirement, where Darrel most enjoyed pontoon rides with his faithful dog Rudy.

Darrel was preceded in death by his parents, Irv and Irene; stepmother Emma, ​​brother Dale, mother and father-in-law Bena and Tony Skerbitz, brother and sister-in-law Dick and Jenny Skerbitz, and brother-in-law Bob Skerbitz.

He is survived by his loving wife Judy; children: Dave (Julaine) Holtz, Mike (Cindy) Holtz and Barb (Bill) Jahn; grandchildren: Michael, Sara, Abby (Jeremiah), Zack, Calvin, Katie, Jessica, Brandon and Eric; and great-granddaughter Freya; sister Kathy (Garvin) Marcus, sisters-in-law: Andy Holtz and Joy Thomas; countless nieces, nephews, and a million friends.

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, June 25 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Ziemer-Moeglein-Shatava Funeral Home in Gilbert. The funeral will be held on Wednesday, June 26, with visitation at 10 a.m. and service at 11 a.m. at United at Christ Lutheran Church in Eveleth. Burial will be at a later date at Forest Hill Cemetery in Aurora.