Rod Slifer - Vail business and community leader

Rod Slifer, a pioneer in Vail real estate, died February 3 in Jacksonville, Florida. He was 89.

A Colorado native, Slifer earned a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Colorado. In 1962 he became assistant ski school director during Vail’s inaugural season. He was the only real estate broker in town and brokered Vail’s purchase of a ranch that became Beaver Creek.

Slifer served on Vail’s town council for 16 years, and as mayor for 11 years. He was a founding director of Alpine Banks of Colorado, director of Colorado Open Lands, vice chair of the Vail Valley Foundation, a founder of the University of Colorado Real Estate Center and Real Estate Foundation and an early member of Eagle County and Vail planning commissions and recreation district. Slifer was honored as Vail Business Person of the Year and one of Vail’s 10 most influential citizens in 2013. In 2016, Vail named a run Slifer Express.