MARQUETTE, Mich. (WJMN) – This year the UP200 will not be the same without a certain member of the Upper Peninsula Sled Dog Association, Patty Holman, who sadly passed away on Saturday, July 30th of 2022.
“If you knew Patty, you had to love her,” said Patricia Torreano, Patty’s friend. “She was full of fun, a great joy to be around, a hard worker, and highly intelligent.”
Patty Holman was a volunteer who ran the UPSDA silent auction. Holman had decided to get involved with the organization when her life-long friend Patricia Torreano brought her to a UP200 race.
“When I began my time with the Sled Dog Association, many years passed and then one time Patty came down to the race, and we were standing in front of the booth downtown, the stage,” said Torreano. “And she said to me ‘You know, I think I’m going to really like this race, and from that time on, she took over our silent auction.”
Toreeano told us that Holman excelled in the silent auction operations. She was a driving force in receiving items from sponsors for the auction and in her first year she made around $9,000 for the organization.
We asked Torreano to describe Holman’s character.
“Well, that’s a good word for Patty, character. She always told people ‘ The name is Patty, with a Y.’ and she had an enormous love for humanity. She was quite a character in her youth and a driving force in her last years. Everybody loved her. She was a counselor to troubled children in her profession, and a very wonderful friend.”
Holman’s death was sudden and unexpected. Her friends and family will always remember her fondly.
“Patty will always be a memory to those who knew her because of all that she encompassed and all that she was and she is sorely missed,” said Torreano.
