IN MEMORIAM RICHARD “DICK” HOLMSTEN
Richard “Dick” Holmsten, 88, of St. Paul, Minn., passed away on Sept. 1. As owner of Holmsten Ice Rinks in St. Paul, he was involved in the building of 250 rinks world- wide, including 60 rinks in Minnesota alone. He was well known in the industry as a pioneer of using direct expan- sion systems for ice rinks.
A longtime ISI member, Dick was honored with ISI’s Pio- neer Award (now called Legacy Award) in 2007 and the
Frank J. Zamboni Award in 2005. He was also inducted into the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Hall of Fame.
Dick was born on March 19, 1930, and graduated from high school in St. Paul, Minn., in 1947. He was recruited to play football at the University of Minnesota and completed his first year as an Institute of Technology and Engineering stu- dent. In an interview with the Veterans History Project in 2003, he said, “In the spring of 1948, they determined that I was too young and immature to compete with the GI’s that were coming out of the service. And so they worked out a deal so that I could go into the service in September of 1948 and served my entire time in Fort Sill, Okla., Artillery School.”
In the fall of 1949, Dick returned to the football team at the University of Min- nesota. A year later, the then 20-year-old was recalled to active duty during the Korean War. He was assigned to Headquarters Battery of the 8th Battalion of the 25th
Field Artillery Infantry Division. He exchanged wedding vows with his eighth-grade sweetheart, Florence, prior to his departure.
When Dick got out of the service, he began working for his father’s company, Holmsten Refrigeration. Following the death of his father, he founded Holmsten Ice Rinks.
In 2003, while laid up with a broken foot, Dick gathered all the letters he wrote to Florence while serving in the Army and compiled an accurate travelogue. He then had it turned into a book, entitled “Ready to Fire: Memoir of an American Artilleryman in the Korean War.”
Dick and Florence were married for 68 years before she passed away Aug. 15, following a courageous battle with ovarian cancer.
MARY PAT STOLL
Mary Pat Stoll, a former employee of the Northbrook Park District in Northbrook, Ill., passed away on Oct. 10.
Mary Pat was part of the Northbrook Park District and Sports Center family for more than 25 years. During that time, she impacted thousands of skaters as an instructor, choreographer, full-time skating school director, and eventually the Sports Center director. Mary Pat was a leader in applying the Ice Sports Industry (ISI) skating school curriculum and was the first to bring ISI competitions to the Sports Cen- ter. All programs are integral to the facility.
One of Mary Pat’s many accomplishments included her years of involvement in the Sports Center renovation, which was completed in 2000. Mary Pat’s in- put was critical in expanding the nationally recognized Sports Center from one sheet of ice to two and developing the programming and relationships with many affiliate groups that still exist.
Mary Pat’s impact was widespread, touching the lives of many and contributing to the many Sports Center programs still in existence today.
Memorial visitation was held Oct.12 at Kolssak Funeral home in Wheeling, Ill., followed by a memorial mass on Oct. 13 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Buffalo Grove, Ill.
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