TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
The Honorable Odell C. Barry 1941–2022 Former Mayor, Retired Football Player, Businessman
By Aaron Williams
ball rather than making the 1964 U.S. Men's Olympic Track and Field team. In 1964, the Denver Broncos selected Barry in the 19 th round of the 1964 AFL draft. Barry played in 26 games with the Broncos over two seasons, primarily as a return specialist and backup wide receiver. As a rookie, he returned a punt for a touchdown and led the AFL in kickoff returns with 47, which is still a Broncos team record. Injuries, how- ever, prematurely ended his professional football career. Barry began his post-football life as the Northglenn Recreation Director. He stated in 1980, "There was so much to do. Northglenn had no physical recre- ation activities at all." He also became the owner of Colorado's first full-service Dairy Queen in the early 1970s. Barry transitioned to local politics serving on the Northglenn City Council from 1972 to 1979. Barry served the Northglenn community as its mayor from 1980 to 1982. He founded Barry & Associates, a Real Estate and Consulting firm. In ad- dition to serving on various community and state posts, Barry served as chair- man of the Colorado Economic Devel- opment Commission. In 2011, Denver Mayor Guillermo "Bill" Vidal appointed Barry to a municipal task force tasked with addressing Denver's financial fund- ing issues. In the early 1990s, Barry was also a member of the Colorado Baseball Commission that brought major league baseball to Denver with the expansion Colorado Rockies in 1993. Later, He chaired the site selection committee for a new football stadium for the Broncos
replacing vener- able Mile High Stadium.
I n 1980, Odell Barry (Beta Xi of Colorado city. Barry first rose to prominence in Colorado as a mem- ber of the American Football League (AFL) Denver Broncos. Longtime Denver area community leader Odell Carl Barry (Beta Xi 1964) entered the Chapter Invisible on Janu- ary 2, 2022, at age 80. The Denver Broncos franchise released the follow- ing statement on Barry's passing. 1964) made history when citizens of Northglenn elected him as the first African American mayor "We've saddened by the passing of Odell Barry, a Bronco from 1964- 1965 and Colorado's first Black mayor elected by a major city. He played an instrumental role in the creation of Empower Field (Denver Broncos sta- dium) and served as a member of our Alumni Association's Alumni Council." Barry, a Life Member of the Frater- nity and member of the Denver (CO) Alumni Chapter, is the father of Guy L. Grant Awardee and past Middlew- estern Province Polemarch Damon O. Barry (Gamma Eta 1992) and Jay C. Barry (Denver (CO) Alumni 2018). Barry was born on October 10, 1941, in Memphis, TN, and grew up in Toledo, OH. He attended the Univer- sity of Findlay, located in Findlay, OH, where he played football and ran track. At Findlay, Barry, in 1962, he tied the world record in the 220-yard dash; however, the time was not official due to wind. He chose professional foot-
Former Denver,
CO mayor and the 54 th Laureate Wreath Laure- ate Wellington E. Webb on Barry, "I think of Odell as a
friend, and as someone who made a real difference in the building of a metropoli- tan Denver community." Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort "Odell was a great civic leader who was always out for betterment of the community. I met Odell much later than his involvement in bringing baseball to Denver, but considered him a friend, and a very genuine person." Guy L. Grant Awardee Damon Barry on his father, "His biggest legacy is what he did for the youth. He mentored so many youth in Northglenn and the whole state. Being an African Ameri- can man in a predominately White city (like Northglenn), and being as well- respected as he was in the '70s and that never changing — that's special. People of all colors and likes and creeds really looked up to him and respected him. He used that (status) to help mold the next generation." Brother Odell C. Barry is survived by his wife, Glenda, two sons, and five grandchildren. Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library at the Denver Pub- lic Library maintains the Odell Barry Papers.
54 | SUMMER 2022 ♦ THE JOURNAL
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