ARLINGTON – Alice Holtz, the widow of longtime Rangers’ broadcaster Mark Holtz, died Wednesday after a long battle with cancer. She was 51.
Mrs. Holtz passed away at approximately 4 p.m. Wednesday at Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth. She had been hospitalized for about two weeks. In memory of Mrs. Holtz, the Rangers observed a moment of silence prior to Wednesday’s game with Detroit.
Mr. Holtz broadcast Rangers games on television and radio for 17 years from 1981 through 1997. He died Sept. 7, 1997 from complications of a bone-marrow transplant for the treatment of leukemia. He also was 51.
Mrs. Holtz was originally diagnosed with cancer in the fall of 1989. Her struggle against the disease became well known in North Texas. Mrs. Holtz, however, rarely called attention to herself.
“Alice was a tremendously good-natured person with a terrific sense of humor,” said Rangers broadcaster Eric Nadel, who worked alongside Mr. Holtz for 13 years and remained a close family friend after his death.
“She was the type of person you were always glad to see,” said Nadel. “And she was remarkably low-key in describing all of the battles she had to fight the last several years. She was always trying to make it sound like it was no big deal. But she had a really rough struggle.”
Mrs. Holtz grew up in suburban Chicago and married Mr. Holtz in 1967. Before moving to Arlington in 1980, they lived in Waverly, Iowa; Scottsbluff and Omaha, Neb.; Peoria, Ill.; and Denver.
Mrs. Holtz is survived by a daughter, Cindy Kuster; granddaughter, Allison Kuster; son-in-law, Jeff Kuster, all of Arlington; her parents, Bill and Dorothy Rudge of Wildwood, Fla; and a sister, Karen Brown, of Chapel Hill, N.C.
A memorial service will take place Monday at 11 a.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church, 3321 West Park Row, in Arlington. Contributions in Alice Holtz’s name may be made to the American Cancer Society.