It is with sorrow and a heavy heart that FISU bids farewell to its Emeritus Honorary Member Fritz Holzer. The former FISU Vice-President and long-standing active member of our organisation passed away on 19 May 2021.
Fritz’s first experience with FISU began in the early days of the federation, during the first ever Universiade in Torino, in 1959, where he participated in the competition as a long-distance runner. From the very beginning his dedication shone though when he competed with a pair of borrowed shoes after his own pair was stollen moments before the start of the race.
The former Vice-President then spent the next decade participating as a skier in FISU Winter Universiades and then as a coach from 1966. During the Villars 1962 Winter Universiade in Switzerland, Fritz again proved his dedication by finding a way to balance his compulsory military service with his passion for sport, and ended up having to do his practice in his military uniform!
Fritz first joined in on the organisational side of FISU events in 1972, where he ingenuously figured out that by using some old radios from a local police station in Lake Placid, him and his team were able to maintain the ski slopes in good condition. “There were some troubles with the weather, constant fluctuations of the temperature,” Holzer said. “It was very difficult to keep the slopes in good condition. They found radio devices at the police station that didn’t work very well, but were still helpful for the coordination of the work. Then, all of a sudden, the army came and took them away, saying they were top-secret material.”
Fritz joined the FISU family in 1974 and remained active until his last days. He fulfilled the roles of member of FISU Committees, Executive Committee member, EC Vice President and finally assisting FISU events as FISU Emeritus Honorary Member.
“I met Fritz for the first time in 1985 and have been working with him in the Winter Games committee until 2003,” Secretary General-CEO Eric Saintrond says, looking back on the times working together. “He was passionate of the University Sport movement and has been a great adviser to our Federation when he became member of our Executive Committee in Sheffield in 1991. His dream was to bring back the Winter Universiade to Switzerland. Unfortunately, he will not be with us in December, but the Winter Universiade in Lucerne will be dedicated to him.”
Fritz Holzer will be remembered as a hard worker, dedicated to what he believed in. He is one of those individuals who has brought a tremendous input to the development of the university sports movement and he will remain as such in the memories of all those who knew him.
“Fritz was not only one of my gifted teachers during my studies at the University of Bern, but became my mentor within FISU and helped me a lot to gain a foothold first in the Press Commission and later in the EC,” expressed FISU Acting President Leonz Eder. “He was not a man of loud words, but more of quiet activity. He was a very sensitive and humorous person, a man of balance, a true bridge builder. He was very interested in university sport at a local, national and global level until his old age. During the Universiades – to which he was always invited as a highly deserving Emeritus Honorary Member – he attended competitions every day and was convincing in many sports, even in his old age, through his pronounced professional competence. Fritz will be missed not only by me personally, but also by the whole FISU family. May his example of modesty and voluntary work continue to be a model for us in the future.”
In memory of Fritz Holzer and with the utmost respect, the FISU family sends its deepest sympathy to his spouse Ellen who accompanied him throughout the years, and to his loved ones who he left behind. Dear Fritz, thank you for your passion, your dedication and the legacy left behind by such a fruitful career.
Yours sincerely,
FISU family.
