Born to SSgt Joseph Lee Holitzke and Martha Ann Navratil in Liberty, Texas on August 22, 1943, his father was killed in action during WWII before he turned one. Donnie, as he was always called, was raised by multiple family members in Dayton, Texas who became legends in the stories he told…Uncle Joe, Uncle Ed, Aunt Betty, and his grandmother who didn’t speak English, so he only spoke Czech for the first six years of his life. His mother re-married Carl Ekvall, who adopted Donnie and who was the man who he always thought of as his father.

They were soon joined by sisters Carla and Tanya, who Donnie once shot with a bow & arrow. While in high school, he played football, basketball and baseball, and was in the band…once he had to perform a trumpet solo in his football uniform because he was playing in the game that he was performing in.

He spent his years working on the family’s rice farm or the cotton gin, and went to Baylor on a baseball scholarship. Baylor wasn’t a good fit for him, as he said that his room was near the bear’s cage and it smelled, so he transferred to Texas A&M University and entered veterinary school. While at A&M, he was introduced to Carla’s home economics teacher, Mary Ursula Habermacher, who he married on June 18, 1966. He graduated from vet school and moved with Ursie to the small farming community of Plano, Texas. He worked at a number of vet clinics in the area until he opened Animal Care Clinic, which he operated for over 30 years, eventually opening up another clinic on the growing west side of town.

While watching Plano grow into the city it has become, they had 2 children…first a girl, Erika, who was born on Donnie’s birthday, and then a son, Hunter.

Never one to rest while he wasn’t working, he started a Brahman cattle ranch in Commerce, Texas and named it 4E Ranch, after the 4 Ekvalls. He became involved with the American Brahman Breeders Association, and worked within the organization in numerous leadership roles. He retired and sold his clinics in the early 2000s, and moved his cattle operation to Madisonville, Texas. He was a member of the Madisonville Sidewalk Cattleman’s Association and the Madisonville Mushroom Festival, and often helped out with Ursie at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church.

Doc, as he was called by some, was an avid fan of Texas A&M athletics, and would often record football & basketball games to watch again and again.

If the Aggies were losing, everyone would know it… he could be very colorful with his language during a game. At one point, he had season tickets to the Aggie basketball games, and would always have a hot sports opinion on how the Aggies were doing this year. His uniform for ranch work was his cowboy hat, white shirt, faded Wranglers, and cowboy boots. He would whistle and laugh and get annoyed when his son would do his spot on impression of him.

He’s survived by his wife Petra, his two children Erika and Hunter, his four grandchildren Ty Ann, Wyatt, Keaton, and Lariat, and his two step-children Keelea and Mikey, his two sisters Carla & Tanya, and numerous cousins, nephews, and nieces who will all miss their “Uncle Donnie”.