Darren Jon Holmquist

Darren Jon Holmquist, cherished brother, son, uncle, and a friend to all, passed away unexpectedly of natural causes on Saturday, June 28, 2025 at the age of 65 in Salem, Oregon. Darren was a beloved long-time fixture and beertender at F-Stop Fitzgerald Public House in Keizer where he created a welcoming, joyful atmosphere. His quiet wit, big hugs, and thoughtfulness kept him close in everyone’s hearts. Other days he was out making new friends across the state as he worked his Edgemaster knife sharpening job. That was his day job, but his real love was being creative.

Darren graduated from Stayton High School and went on to work at the Stayton Mail newspaper, and the Bend Cable Company working the cameras and behind the scenes. He loved photography, videography, writing songs, reading, and above all - music. His love and knowledge of the music world knew no bounds. Music was his passion throughout life and he loved sharing this passion with others. He will be missed by many internationally as he created an online community of fellow music lovers throughout the world. Growing up with his sisters, he was a major influence and nurtured their love of music. One of his creative ideas included writing, recording, and presenting his beloved dad with a collection of songs sung by the four siblings as “The Four Ds” - a project that took months to create just that one gift. He took gift giving seriously and put a lot of effort into creating special and unique gifts. What a giving and wonderful human he was! When you think of Darren, you may think of the Beatles, Three Dog Night, Del Amitri, Monty Python, or Chevy Chase. He was a great collector of music, memorabilia, concert T-shirts and his collection is legendary!

Darren was preceded in death by his mother Irene; and leaves behind his father, Jon Holmquist and step-mother Solveig Holmquist of Salem, OR; sisters Dawn Woolcott (Chuck) of Brush Prairie, WA; Dana Hennelly (Todd) of Lake Oswego, OR; Darci Swindells (Charlie) of Portland, OR; step-brother Peter Smith (Rebecca Peterson) of Grants Pass, OR; step-brother Rob Magnusson Smith (Leslie Mazlow) of Falmouth, England; and several nieces and one nephew. A Celebration of Life will be held at F-Stop Fitzgerald Public House in Keizer in early August and a small grave-side service will be held at Belcrest Memorial Park in Salem, OR on Monday, August 4, 2025 at 10:00 am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Keeping the Arts, an Oregon nonprofit foundation to support fellow students of music at Keepingthearts.org or if you’d rather, stop by F-Stop and share a story or memory of Darren with the folks there. That would make him happy.