Richard Powell Holm, M.D.
February 1, 1949 - March 22, 2020
Visitations and memorial services for Richard Powell Holm, M.D., 71, of Brookings, SD, will be held in the future as soon as public gatherings are permitted.
Richard Powell Holm, M.D., died Sunday, March 22, 2020, at home in Brookings, SD, under hospice care, surrounded by his family.
Richard Powell Holm, M.D., was born Feb. 1, 1949, in Minneapolis, MN, to Jody and Earl Holm.
The family moved to De Smet, SD, in 1954 and Rick graduated from De Smet High School of De Smet, SD, in 1967. He attended the University of South Dakota at Vermillion, SD, earned his bachelor of science in medicine in 1973 from the University of South Dakota School of Medicine and his doctor of medicine degree from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1975.
He was a member of Emory Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
While at Emory, Rick met and married Joanie Smith, and the two moved to Brookings, SD, where they raised four children.
He served as president of the South Dakota State Medical Association, governor of the South Dakota Chapter of the American College of Physicians and was awarded a master of the American College of Physicians. He was a member of the state and national chapters of the American Medical Association, the Gold Humanism Honor Society and many other organizations.
In 2019, Rick was awarded the Oscar E. Edwards Memorial Award for Volunteerism and Community Service from the American College of Physicians. He received the 2018 University of South Dakota Alumni Achievement for Professional Service and he was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame and cited as “South Dakota’s Voice of Healthcare” in 2017.
Driven by his passion for providing ethical, science-based medical information, Rick founded a variety of programs including a weekly Prairie Doc® radio show, a weekly Q&A television show, On Call With The Prairie
Doc® broadcast on South Dakota Public Broadcasting and Prairie Doc® Perspectives, a weekly column published in more than 120 newspapers in five states, including South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas.
Rick also founded and conducted the Hopeful Spirit Chorale, an a capella, hospice-oriented volunteer choir, which sings for those in need of a hopeful spirit. In 2011, Rick and Joanie co-founded Healing Words Foundation, a 501c3 which serves as the funding organization for Prairie Doc® programs
and the Chorale.
Rick authored two books, “The Picture Of Health: A View From The Prairie” with Judith Peterson, M.D. and “Life’s Final Season: A Guide For Aging and Dying With Grace.”
Rick practiced medicine in Brookings, SD, for nearly 40 years. He served as the hospice medical director in Brookings, SD, until the time of his death.
Grateful for having shared his life are his life-partner, Joanie Smith Holm; their children, Eric Holm, Carter Holm, Preston Holm and Julia Holm and his dear cousin-brothers, Bob McDonald and wife, Marge of Waterman, Illinois, and Mark Powell and Joey of Springfield, MO.
He was preceded in death by a sister, Susan Diane Holm; his father, Earl Ernest Holm; his mother, Joanne Powell Holm and several close aunts, uncles and cousins.
Eidsness Funeral Home of Brookings, SD, was in charge of arrangements.
Memorials may be designated to the Healing Words Foundation, P.O. Box 752, Brookings, SD 57006, https://www.healingwordsfoundation.org/donate.html.