CBS Colorado remembers producer Raetta Holdman

Over the weekend the news community in Colorado lost a fierce journalist: Raetta Holdman from CBS Colorado died on Sunday. Raetta wasn't someone you saw on air, but she was a force behind the scenes.

She began working at the television station in 1988 and she's seen it all: breaking news including mass shootings, wildfires, and extreme weather events, special coverage including elections, debates and the Democratic National Convention. A graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism, her producer journey started with overnight shifts and early morning newscasts, graduating to the 4 p.m. news and landing on the noon show, which she produced for decades and allowed her to have a hand in planning for major news events. In the last few years, she took the lead on our assignment desk.

You knew anything she touched would be done right if she was at the helm. And she never shied away from voicing her opinion. She pushed you to be better.

For many of us at CBS Colorado, she wasn't just a colleague -- she was a loyal friend, a strong advocate and a defender of journalism.

It was easy to ask her for advice in work, and life.

We produced a couple of specials together -- one called "The Border Crossed Us" a couple of years ago. We both won a national Gracie Award in New York.

Raetta will be missed by all of us at CBS Colorado. And CBS Colorado sends love to her family, especially her brothers, son, daughter, and grandchildren. Raetta was well loved and respected in and out of the news business.