Rod Powell
Obituaries
Vail Daily page A3; A8 - March 22, 2020
The pandemic sweeping the nation has claimed the life of a Vail musical icon.
Rod Powell, 64, who delighted aprés-ski crowds for decades in Vail with his musical talents, died from complications from coronavirus. He is the first Eagle County victim of COVID-19, according to Eagle County Public Health and Environment.
"Rod Powell was a legend in Vail and brought joy to so many over his tenure as Vail's No. 1 entertainer," Shannon Tanner, his longtime friend and fellow musician, said.
Powell, who played for decades at Pepi's and other watering holes around Vail, was the first to welcome Tanner as a "kid entertainer" from South Carolina.
"I learned much from Rod Powell. … His friendship I treasured. There is a hole in the world today," Tanner said.
Powell's sister, Nancy Powell Wilson, said her brother's memorial service can wait until the pandemic has passed, probably this summer.
Powell skied March 6 at the 35th annual Tuxedo Party on Vail Mountain with friends from Vail and his native Missouri.
"It was one of those bluebird days," long-time friend Heather Lemon said, who was along for what turned out to be Powell's last ski day.
His friends said something might be wrong when Powell was not at church the following Sunday. He almost never missed church.
He went to his doctor Monday, March 9, and his doctor sent him to the hospital. On Wednesday, March 11, he was transferred from Vail Health Hospital to Presbyterian St. Luke's Hospital in Denver, where he was placed on a ventilator. He died Saturday morning after a two-week battle.
He had COPD and diabetes, so he had underlying conditions to go with the COVID-19, friends said.
Musician, mentor, friend
Powell spent years singing on Pepi's deck and entertaining tens of thousands of visitors over his 32 years there. He was always quick with a joke, always remembered his fans and played the meanest version of "Hotel California" around.
He was also a real estate agent, most recently with Berkshire-Hathaway.
"I had the good fortune to know him, and be entertained by him, both as a member of the community and our company," said firm president Michael Slevin, who grew up in Vail.
Kevin Denton also grew up in Vail being entertained by Powell. Also a broker at Berkshire, Denton became a friend of Powell's when the latter joined Berkshire's Vail Village office.
"He was one of the biggest characters," Denton said. "He was really the poster child of Vail."
Denton said Powell's death makes the seriousness of COVID-19 very real.
"It's hit home a lot harder now that one of our close friends is gone," Denton said. "Hopefully everybody takes it a lot more seriously. We've all got to do our part," he said.
Over the course of his career, Powell played with his own band, had a recording that made Billboard's top 100, did a stint with the New Christy Minstrels and entertained people around the world on cruise ships. He performed for ambassadors in Europe, movie stars and for President Gerald Ford. Gregory Peck watched Powell's first gig at Pepi's.
Powell jammed with Hall of Fame musicians including the Doobie Brothers, Dan Fogelberg, Edwin McCain and Stephen Stills. He played Vail during ski season and headed for the Caribbean in the summer before moving to EagleVail full time in the late 1990s.
He loved sailing and once had a boat. He loved a good fire, blue Powerade, going to the casino in Black Hawk and was a regular at the Riverwalk movie theater. He knew almost everyone in the area and had an anecdote about each one. Powell had strong faith in God and most recently attended the Vail Church.
Although he never married or had children, he loved helping kids. One of his proudest accomplishments was fundraising for the Colorado Make-A-Wish Foundation. He used his connections to secure donations for auctions and helped organize concerts with fellow Vail area musicians to raise funds for the organization. He and Tanner, his best friend, were privileged to ski with a young man whose wish was to experience Vail.
Rod Powell was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, June 5, 1955, the son of Robert and Doris Atkins Powell. He attended Central High School, where he began his musical career, and Missouri Western State University, where he pledged Tau Kappa Epsilon. His parents preceded him in death. He is survived by his sister, who lives in St. Joseph.
"The news of this loss in our community serves as a solemn reminder that COVID-19 can pose greater risks to some members of our community, in particular older adults and people with pre-existing health conditions. We must all take steps to protect our families, ourselves, our friends, and our community," said Heath Harmon, director of Eagle County Public Health and Environment.
Vail Daily reporters Scott Miller and Tricia Swenson contributed to this story.
Vail Daily page A16 - March 21, 2021
It is hard to believe it has been a year since we lost Rod Powell to COVID-19. We knew so little about it then. We talked about it and Rod knew if he contracted it that it would likely be fatal. He lost that fight on March 20, 2020. We miss you Rod. We miss your humor, your kindness, love of groomers and your music. Your buddies miss that friendship most of all. Rod's Missouri memorial service will be on his birthday, June 5, in St. Joseph. Plans for an all-star musical send off here in Vail are still in flux, pending the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
Vail Daily page A2; A16-17 - July 20, 2022
A celebration of life was held at 4 Eagle Ranch on Sunday for Rod Powell, a legendary Vail après ski entertainer. Powell was Eagle County's first COVID-19 casualty in March of 2020 and it took a while for family and friends to be able to gather in his honor.
"It's been a long time coming. We all have been holding Rod really close to our hearts, waiting for this moment when we could all come back together and say goodbye in the proper way," said longtime friend and fellow musician Shannon Tanner.
The proper way to say goodbye to a man who gave so much through his music was to pay it back with his contemporaries playing some of Powell's classic après ski cover songs that were a part of his regular show at Pepi's, where he performed for over 30 years. Powell's shows were a must-see when in town and brought fans back year after year.
"His shows put Vail on the map. He knew how to drive a crowd. It didn't matter how well he was singing, he was so good at including everybody into whatever was going on during his shows, the audience felt like he knew them personally," said longtime friend Heather Lemon.
Powell was born into a musical family from St. Joseph, Missouri, on June 5, 1955, and had a guitar in his hand by the time he was 2 years old.
"He had a high school band called Crossroads and after a short gig with the New Christy Minstrels in California, he came to Vail in the early 1980s and started playing at Pepi's," said Nancy Powell Wilson, Rod's only sibling, who was at the event on Sunday.
"I loved coming out here to see him. His biggest cheerleader was our dad, he just loved coming out to see Rod play," Wilson said.
Powell played for ambassadors, actors, presidents and played with other famous musicians like The Doobie Brothers, Dan Fogelberg, Steven Stills and Edwin McCain. During the summers he loved the water and even had his own sailboat for a time and worked on cruise ships before calling the valley his year-round home in the 1990s.
His summer shows on the deck of Pepi's became famous due to his "Street People" act. Powell would not only play to the crowd seated at the tables, he'd also shout out to passersby and get them involved in the show. Barbara DeLuca, who owned Currents Jewelers just down the street from Pepi's heard all of his shows outside of the shop.
"He'd get 30 or 40 people to stand around and he'd ask where they were from and pretty soon everybody's playing along and shouting their answers and being a part of the show," Barbara DeLuca said.
Barbara's husband, Rob DeLuca, shared that Powell knew that "Cinnamon Girl" was Barbara's favorite song and that he would do something special for her every time she walked by.
"When we would go to dinner, we'd be walking by Pepi's, and no matter what song he was playing, he'd stop and break into "Cinnamon Girl" and after a phrase he would then do almost a TV commercial telling the crowd if they have any jewelry needs they really need to go into Currents Jewelers, they have watches and jewelry and can satisfy all of your needs," Rob DeLuca said.
"He would just blend that in and we'd keep walking down the street then he'd go back to his act. He was a big part of the Bridge Street family in the early years and Rod was kind of like the glue that connected so many people to this valley," Barbara DeLuca said.
"Rod was a one-of-a-kind legendary entertainer in Vail, but his equally important talent was connecting people who have forged lifelong friendships," said Brad Korell, a fellow St. Joseph, Missouri native who now calls Vail home. "The friendships I have now, close to 35 years later, have happened because of the connections through Rod."
Barbara Weiss, a friend of Powell's for 25 years, drove from Reno, Nevada, to pay tribute.
"Most of the people I know here today I know because of Rod. We met through his performances at Pepi's and then we'd ski together and have house parties and dinners. I just came up here to say goodbye," Weiss said.
"It's amazing how many people are connected because of Rod Powell. Instead of the 'six degrees of separation with Kevin Bacon' it's 'one degree of separation with Rod Powell,'" Weiss said.
"I met Rod when I first came to the Vail Valley in the 1980s and I was playing downstairs at Vendetta's and Rod literally came in and walked up with a shot and I was underage at the time, I was 18 or 19, and he says, 'I'm Rod Powell. Welcome to town,' and he shakes my hand and we were fast friends ever since," Tanner told the crowd as the music was about to start.
Tanner brought together Dave Anderson, Steve "Wingman" Wickum, Peter Fontanese, Brent Gordon, Don Watson, Beth Swearingen, Roy Bloomfield, John Dunn, Mauricio and Dina Cadavid, and Brad Quayle up on stage throughout the service.
"We're going to miss him forever and ever but the good thing is that he hasn't left us, because here we are and here he is right in the midst of us in our hearts and in our minds and our music, so that's pretty good stuff if you ask me. That is a life well lived," Tanner said as he led the group in playing "Tequila Sunrise" by The Eagles.
Earlier that morning, a group of Powell's friends had assembled at the top of the Lodgepole ski run on Vail Mountain, which was Powell's favorite place to make some turns. The group made a sign and nicknamed it "Rodgepole" for the day. A memorial boulder is located in the Vail Memorial Park in East Vail and donations can be made in Powell's honor to the Colorado Make-A-Wish Foundation. Powell would use his talent and connections to raise money for that nonprofit.
The après ski music shifted as the program came to a close. Local Bavarian entertainer Helmut Fricker and his wife, Charlotte Fricker, led the crowd in a few verses of "Amazing Grace," which Fricker played on his alpenhorn.
Then Tanner led the closing prayer and played a recording of "Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman.
"This is real bittersweet because the music they are playing is beautiful but when you see everyone on stage and you remember how many years these musicians have played individually or together, it's sad to think we've lost Rod," Rob DeLuca said. "It's like the saying goes, 'it takes a long time to make old friends.'"
