Friends remember Brad Odekirk ...

Perhaps it’s impossible to say what Brad Odekirk loved most. Perhaps others who have known him longer can better answer that. In the more than two years we knew one another, he became a trusted friend whose opinion I sought and whose talent as photographer could leave me in awe.

I close my eyes and can conjure him casting a fly line, very serious and very focused, then grinning in spite of himself when a trout takes the fly. I can see him with Scout, his devoted retriever, both wet from a “walk” by the lake. I see him perched behind his camera waiting for “the shot.” I see him pouring us a wee bit o’ whiskey at the end of a meal, something to lubricate a last bit of conversation.
Brad was one of the most loving and giving people I’ve known.

What Brad loved most, I believe, was life. He lived it better than most.
— Jim Morgan, Summit Daily News publisher

All day Sunday I tried to figure out why some people die young, and others don’t. The mystery confounds me. And I know I’ll never know the answer.

With Brad, it was almost like he was preparing to die young. He wasn’t, of course, but nothing he ever did gave that away. He saw more of the world than I could ever hope to. He forged relationships that lasted his lifetime — not because he intended for them to do so, but because the way he treated you, and laughed with you, and talked to you, made it impossible not to want his presence in your life. He declared it a priority — the priority — to spend as much time with his parents and other family members as his job would allow (actually, it was always more than his job would allow, but it never once stopped him). I respected the hell out of him.

Brad had a way of making your day. He handwrote letters to friends. He told me he thought my girlfriend was a terrific person. He took me out to lunch. Just last week, on a day when 100 others never knew, he somehow figured out that it was my birthday, and wished me a happy day.

I can only imagine how many others he made feel that good in his 42 years.
— Devon O’Neil, friend and colleague

In the newspaper business, we call photos that don’t go with stories “EDLs.” It stands for “everyday life,” and it was the type of photo Brad Odekirk loved to take.

I’ve no doubt Ode’s EDLs are hanging in living rooms all over the county, nation and world, because in the course of his 12-year career shooting in Summit County, he took thousands of them. No subject was ever too small for Ode, and he took singular delight in bringing his clever eye to illustrate subjects from a family on the bikepath to a dog hanging out a car window.

Today, not knowing what to do upon learning of Ode’s death, I went on a bike ride to Dillon with my wife and youngest son. Everywhere I looked, I thought of how Ode would see it, and thought of how he’d documented just about every nook and cranny of Summit County in his long career. I also reflected on the fact that Ode leaves behind a substantial life’s work in photographs, and that he touched so many lives as he scoured the county for his next EDL.

We’ll miss Ode terribly, but I also know the way he saw the beauty of everyday life will live on through those photographs.
— Alex Miller, former colleague

Going on assignment with Brad I learned to never be in a big hurry because someone — or several people — would inevitably stop us to thank him for his work.

And Brad just never sloughed people off, even if something was burning.

He would stop to accept compliments because, he told me once, the community is what kept him going for 12 years on daily deadlines.

He aimed to get that “beautiful image” every single day, and while shooting he saw in his mind hundreds of readers sitting down with their cups of coffee the next morning saying, “Wow, how stunning. That’s why I live here.”

He kept every single image published in this newspaper. They are preserved between plastic sheets in hundreds of bound notebooks. I teased him for this quirky habit of organizing newspaper clippings, but I know why he did it. He felt this was his life’s work, to document and show off Summit County for the period of time he was allowed to do so.
— Kim Marquis, former colleague

Brad was a special human being who lived life to its fullest, experiencing life from all corners of the world. He was blessed with gentleness and compassion and did a remarkable job of capturing that through his photos. There is a special place in my heart for the fond memories from the office to the links to the slopes when I worked at the Summit Daily News. During the ups and downs in the early days, Brad was an excellent sounding board providing straight talk when it came time to leading our operation. I knew, I could always count on Brad doing his best for the newspaper and the community. My soul is deeply saddened with the loss of my friend.
— Bob Brown, chief operating officer of Swift Communications, which owns the SDN. He is a former SDN publisher and general manager of Colorado Mountain News Media.

Ode was the only person I ever knew who felt comfortable wearing a beret in public. And it was not just some affectation; it suited him perfectly, for Ode was a bonafide bon vivant, a man of the world. He lived to travel and did so extensively. He was a member of a dying breed, in that, instead of emails and text messages, he actually hand wrote letters to people. Lots of them, to people from Thailand to Denmark. He loved to cook and host dinner parties. The last meal he prepared for me was a curry that I would rank among the best I ever ate. But, more than anything, Ode was about friends. If a man’s life can be judged by the number and quantity of friendships he maintained (and it can), then Ode was the richest man in Summit County. I knew and worked with him since he came aboard the Summit Daily in 1992 when our office was over near Barkley’s. He was a big part of my life, and I will miss him (and his beret) more than I can, at this time, even contemplate.
R.I.P., bro.
— M. John Fayhee, former colleague

Words can’t express the loss I feel today. Ode was my friend, my brother. After working together for years at the Summit Daily, we continued to support each other over the years and remained close when that working relationship changed — continually talking about life, photography and everything in between. When you talk about Soul of the Summit, Ode’s name was and always will be at the top of the list. He had a passion for his craft, a love for Summit County, a love for people and love for life. He will be forever in our hearts. I will miss you my brother.
— Mark Fox, former Summit Daily photographer

It was Brad Odekirk that, much to the consternation of the newspaper editors that prized my reporting, handed me a camera and said, “You want to try to take the pictures yourself? I’ve got a full plate of photo assignments today.” Six years later, the last two of which Brad and I comprised the photography staff at the Summit Daily, the hardest goodbye I had to say in announcing my resignation from the paper was to Ode — not because we had worked so well together, but because in between he had become more than a mentor, co-worker or friend; he was the closest thing an only son had to call a big brother.

I wanted to be Brad Odekirk. I wanted to be a great photojournalist, and even more a great person such as he. Never in my life have I known someone who, with artistic vision, compassion and a selfless work ethic, touched the lives of so many others.

My greatest sadness now is the many conversations we had about how, one day when my wanderings came to an end, we could once again work side by side.

Brad, I am forever in debt for your love and friendship. I will try to repay it living by the example you set.
— Reid Williams, SDN staff, 1999-2005

Ode was the cornerstone of the Summit Daily News.

He always had kind words to say about people. He loved his community — all of Summit County — and it showed in his magnificent shots, from landscapes to event coverage.

People often met Brad as a co-worker or as the Summit Daily photographer, but his gentle, easy-going spirit quickly led them to respect and care for him deeply.

Besides being loyal to the Summit Daily for so many years, he was one of the most loyal and trustworthy friends a person could find. Whenever one of his friends went through a tough time, he was always there, inviting them over for an incredible meal and good conversation. His caring, honesty, encouragement and constant support enriched my life in a way I will never forget.

He was an inspiration because he noticed, and fully appreciated, the small wonders of life: the newly hatched egg in the pine tree near his condo, the sunset as it reflected off of the lake, a beginner tele skier’s turns at A-Basin.

He was, and always will be, a reminder to focus on the beauty of life.
— Kimberly Nicoletti, former colleague

Brad Odekirk was the glue that cemented “generations” of Summit Daily News’ staff members. While not everyone who worked here over the years knew everyone else, we all knew, and loved, Brad. Through him, we were, and are, a family.

Rarely have I met someone so devoted and loyal to his friends, or who so appreciated the finer moments in life many of us let pass without notice. For Brad, sipping an espresso and watching the sunrise over Lake Dillon or listening to the ice crack during a late night walk with Scout were moments of profound beauty, and he spoke of them in poetic terms. Brad treasured his life, Summit County and his friends, in equal measure.
I will miss you dearly, my friend.
— Jane Reuter, former colleague

I don’t know what to write, maybe because I’m still not sure it’s true.
In an office that turns over faster than an IHOP pancake, Ode was the cornerstone that never changed.

Perhaps that’s why it was so surprising to hear the news — why he seemed like the last person we’d hear this about. In a world and a town where I never know how things will change, Ode was a constant.

His job was constant. His spoke in a constant tone. His hair and his beard were so constantly the same I’ve actually wondered if they ever really grew. He was constantly having dinner parties and constantly taking exotic trips. And we can’t forget the constancy of his pictures — he constantly churned out amazing photos, generally of beautiful scenery and beautiful women.

Brad photographed countless people who have left an indelible mark on the community. At the paper, I sometimes forget that we are part of the community and not just observers. But that’s true of Brad more than any of us. He’s left his own mark on this place, touched so many people. He’s not just part of our history, he was the keeper of our history, and I can’t imagine what the Summit Daily or Summit County will be without him.
— Abby Eagye, former colleague