Richard Powell Holm

Richard Powell Holm, M.D., age 71, passed away Sunday, March 22, 2020, at home under hospice care, surrounded by his family. Visitations and memorial services will be held in the future as soon as public gatherings are permitted. Eidsness Funeral Home of Brookings, South Dakota is assisting the family with arrangements.
Rick was born February 1, 1949 in Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Jody and Earl Holm. The family moved to De Smet, South Dakota in 1954 and Rick graduated from De Smet high school in 1967. Rick attended University of South Dakota, earned his B.S. in medicine in 1973 from the University of South Dakota School of Medicine, and his M.D. from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta 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, South Dakota 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 SDPB and Prairie Doc® Perspectives 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 acapella, 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 for nearly 40 years. He served as the hospice medical director in Brookings until the time of his death.
He was preceded in death by his sister Susan Diane Holm, his father Earl Ernest Holm, his mother Joanne Powell Holm, and several close aunts, uncles, and cousins. He is survived by his life-partner Joanie Smith Holm, and their children Eric, Carter, Preston, and Julia Holm. He is also survived by dear cousin-brothers Bob McDonald (Marge) of Waterman, IL and Mark Powell (Joey) of Springfield, MO.
Memorials may be designated to the Healing Words Foundation, P.O. Box 752, Brookings, SD 57006 https://www.healingwordsfoundation.org/donate.html