YOUR AD HERE »

‘Buz’: A kind, gentle official for Avon

Daily Staff Report
Vail, CO Colorado
Albert 'Buz' Reynolds
ALL |

Albert “Buz” Reynolds, who was mayor of Avon from 1988 to 1994, died Wednesday after a short illness. He was 77.

Reynolds was born April 9, 1930, in Yonkers, N.Y. Reynolds, a U.S. Army veteran, was stationed in Germany during the Korean War.

After leaving the Army, he was a member of the Westchester County Parkway Police, just north of New York City. He retired after 25 years and followed his sons to Colorado.



Reynolds was an Eagle County sheriff’s deputy for four years and he and his wife, Marge, later moved to Avon, where he was elected to the Town Council in 1986. Two years later, he became mayor.

Former town manager Bill Efting said working with Reynolds was kind of like working with your dad or granddad.

Support Local Journalism



“He was probably the kindest, gentlest elected official I ever worked with,” Efting said. “He was an effective decision maker for the town of Avon, but with compassion.”

He was there at the beginning of the Village at Avon project, and he was also instrumental in getting the recreation center built, Efting said. “He was the first one in the pool.”

Albert ‘Buz’ Reynolds Jr. , who also was mayor of Avon, said his father lived quite a colorful life for a boy who grew up in the run down “cold water flats” of New York. He got to shake hands with president Gerald Ford, astronaut Buzz Aldrin and two of his baseball heroes, Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra.

After retiring, he moved to Silt, Colorado, where one of his daughters has a small ranch. He enjoyed doing chores and riding every day.

“He always said he wanted to be a gentleman rancher, although he knew nothing about ranching,” Reynolds Jr. said.

Reynolds is survived by his wife, Margaret Reynolds, of 56 years; his children, Albert ‘Buz’ Reynolds of Avon, Bill Reynolds of El Jebel, Cynthia Kutnicki of New Castle and Colleen Reynolds of Grand Junction; and his grandchildren, Jennifer Reynolds of Denver, Sean Reynolds of Avon, Stosh Kutnicki of New Castle, Patrick and William Reynolds of El Jebel and Lee Albert Reynolds of Grand Junction.


Support Local Journalism