David Holker

David G. Holker, age 90, of Crosslake, MN, and Greek Valley, AZ, passed away on November 21, 2024.

Dave was born on November 1,1934, to David and Marian (Gray) Holker of Owatonna, MN. He grew up on the family’s dairy farm in Hamel, MN, until his family moved to Robbinsdale, MN.

Dave worked as a young boy in the sod fields, rolling and hauling sod, and setting bowling pins in the evenings at the local bowling alley. He graduated from Robbinsdale High School in 1952. Dave was drafted in 1957 and served in the US Army and was stationed in Germany. After leaving the service, he came back and worked as a laborer in construction and managed a machine shop in Lakeville, MN, until the mid-70’s when he moved to Crosslake, MN. Dave also worked for the city of Crosslake as the head of planning and zoning for a few years.

Dave was a self-taught, do-it-yourself, jack of all trades man; he very seldomly hired anyone to work on anything. A true do-it-yourselfer. When he moved into the area, he started his own cement contracting business doing anything from slabs to fireplaces. In the early 80’s, Dave had to move back to Minneapolis to find work because of the recession, where he worked at Forward Technology Co., as a mechanical engineer building injection molding. There he was able to patent a couple of inventions with the US patent office.

In 1972, Dave started dating his sister’s best friend, Shonna (Frigaard) Clasen, a young girl from the neighborhood that he really didn’t like because she was always outspoken and kept him in line. She spent a lot of time at his childhood home visiting his sister. Dave’s parents really loved her and treated her like she was part of the family. It wasn’t until 1978 when they finally decided to get married in Las Vegas at a 24-hour chapel on the strip, with Dave’s sister, Bev, and brother-in-law, Ed Duepner, as their maid of honor and best man. “It was the best thing I ever did, marrying Shonna. She became my best friend, and we did everything together, from hunting, to fishing, to traveling, and even construction projects.”

After retiring, they spent over 20 years being snowbirds where they spent their winters in Arizona and fishing in Canada. After Shonna’s death, Dave lived in Ideal Township next to his stepson until his health started to fail and was moved into Whitefish at the Lakes retirement home in Crosslake.

Dave is survived by his sister, Dorothy (John) Marchwick of Pequot Lakes; step-son, Michael A. Clasen of Pequot Lakes; step-daughter, Kim (David) Anderson of Minneapolis; grandchildren and their families, Tom and Katherine Anderson of Minneapolis, Clayton, Emily, Wyatt, and Calvin Anderson of Minneapolis, Chris, Mauryah, Wylder, and Woods Clasen of Pequot Lakes, Geoff, Jessica, Sawyer, and Evelyn Anderson of Fargo, and Chris, Ashley, Greyson, and Callahan Hanson of Pequot Lakes.

Dave is preceded in death by his parents, David and Marian; wife, Shonna; grandparents, Alexander and Louisa (Monk) Holker and Fred and Clara (Hanson) Gray; step-grandmothers, Isabelle (Gorham) Holker and Lyma (Peterson) Gray; brother, Baird Holker; sisters, Bev Duepner and Donna Gugler; stepdaughter, Elizabeth Clasen; and stepdaughter-in-law, Jennifer D. (Myers) Clasen.