Ed Holmgren

The MAB has learned that veteran Marquette area sports announcer Ed Holmgren passed away June 6 at the age of 85.  Holmgren was a beloved and comforting voice on the radio at multiple stations in the west-end communities of Ishpeming and Negaunee for his calling of sports contests, particularly football and basketball, for more than a half century.

In 2014, he was honored for his 50 years of broadcasting during the halftime intermission of an Ishpeming-at-Westwood football game. He had also been honored as grand marshal of a parade in Ishpeming.

He ended every radio broadcast with his signature quote, “It takes a good sport to make a sport good,” according to his obituary.

Holmgren was born June 1, 1940, in Ishpeming to the late Edmund C. and Laura (Endahl) Holmgren, and graduated from Ishpeming High School in 1958.

After studying at Northern Michigan University for two years, he started his work life at Delany Ford and later was hired at the Marquette County Road Commission, where he retired after 30 years in 1999.

He was a member of the Ishpeming Elks Club, where he had served as Grand Exalted Ruler and District Deputy, and also was a member of Bethany Lutheran Church of Ishpeming, Ishpeming Kiwanis Club, VASA, the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, and several local singing groups.

Ed joined Ted Matson as integral in starting and coaching American Legion baseball teams in the Ishpeming area in the 1960s.

Holmgren is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Susan, as do his daughter Laurie Gardner and son Darren Holmgren, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.