It didn’t matter whether it was a tenor sax or a didgeridoo, Steve Comi could play it.
Dubbed the “music man” of Pueblo, Comi could fix almost any musical instrument too, even if he had to make a tool to do the repairs.
Comi died at his home Sept. 26. He was 81.
The native Puebloan began playing tenor sax in Hinsdale Elementary School and by the time he was in high school had his own dance band.
He also taught music for years in public schools, gave private lessons and held music clinics in various parts of the state.
“He inspired, cajoled, nursed and encouraged his students,” often teaching three generations of the same family, said his wife, Caroline Comi, who was also a music teacher.
“If you played well and took direction, you were on his good list,” said daughter Stephani Comi, who lives in Pueblo.
“He was stern and passionate, but a lot of fun and motivating” to students, said former student Mike De Luca.
Comi loved to go to elementary schools and tell students how music started, using such things as reeds he had picked from a river bank or primitive “drums.”
Comi could repair any instrument, said De Luca, director of visual and performing arts in Pueblo School District 60. He once watched Comi replace a piece of a bassoon with a rolling pin he had hollowed out.
Comi led and played in the Pueblo Municipal Band, was in the Colorado State Fair Band for years and for a time sang in a barbershop quartet.
There really wasn’t an instrument he couldn’t play, said his daughter, including those she and her brother, Tom Comi of Tucson, brought to him from far-flung places. One was the didgeridoo, a long wooden pipe- shaped instrument from Australia.
Steve Comi was born July 13, 1924, and graduated from Centennial High School. After serving in the 7th Army during World War II, he earned his bachelor’s degree in music education at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
He taught music in Kansas and Nebraska before returning to Pueblo to become music director at Centennial High. His first two marriages, to Gladys Speakman and Jessie Tedrow, ended in divorce.
He met Caroline Jones, a Welsh native, when she was in Pueblo on a visit. She auditioned to sing in the Pueblo Municipal Band. They were married in 1980.
In addition to his wife, daughter and son, he is survived by another daughter, Julie Dansdill of Castle Rock; his mother, Louise Comi, and his brother, Ted Comi, both of Pueblo; three grandchildren; and two stepsons: Andrew Meek and Jules Meek, both of England.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at vculver@denverpost.com or at 303-820-1223.
