Mike Holtz, Former Robbinsdale Mayor, Dies at Age 76
The Robbinsdale community is mourning a longtime council member and former mayor.
Mike Holtz, who spent nearly 32 years on the city council, died on Tuesday, Jan. 7. He was 76 years old.
Gary Laurant, a former Robbinsdale City Council Member who was friends with Holtz, described him as “humble” and a constant “cheerleader” for the city.
“Never once did he say a disparaging word about Robbinsdale,” Laurant said. “He was always building up Robbinsdale and his family and friends.”
According to the Robbinsdale Historical Society’s website, Holtz was born in Ham Lake, Minnesota in 1948.
He graduated from Howard Lake High School in 1966, where he played basketball, football and baseball, earning six varsity letters.
He later spent two years in the U.S. Army.
Holtz was elected to the Robbinsdale City Council’s Ward 3 seat in 1981.
A framed photo shows three Robbinsdale mayors — Mike Holtz, Joy Robb, and Bill Blonigan — meeting former President Bill Clinton in the Oval Office. According to Blonigan, former Council Member Bob Zagaros is also pictured. Holtz died on Tuesday, Jan. 7. He was 76 years old.
After 16 years, he mounted a successful mayoral run.
He would spend another 16 years in the mayor’s seat, with his term ending in January 2013.
Former Robbinsdale Mayor Bill Blonigan served alongside Holtz for his full 32 years on the council.
Blonigan said under Holtz, the council took many small steps that helped usher in years of positive change across the city.
“So we did things like that that set up the whole city for future success,” Blonigan said. “And just one building block at a time, and he was part of all of that.”
The visitation for Holtz will be from 4-7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 17 at Gearty-Delmore Chapel in Robbinsdale.
His burial mass is the following day at Robbinsdale’s Church of the Sacred Heart.
