Warren Pohl’s love for guitars, music made him ‘a kind and generous man’

WATERLOO – Warren Pohl and Mick Staebell shared more than their love of music. They were buddies for nearly 44 years, including 10 years together in the same bands — Staebell on keyboards and Pohl on electric guitar.

They met in 1976 and bonded over music.  “He saw me playing in another band, called me up and asked me to sit in with his band. I went over and played, and it was like love at first sight,” Staebell recalled.

“We got to know each other and understood one another.”

Those were the “Urban Cowboy” days when people circled the floor at local night spots dotting the Cedar Valley doing the Texas two-step and line dancing to “Cotton Eyed Joe”  and “Orange Blossom Special.”

Pohl and Staebell were members of Sagebrush, a popular country-rock band that played every weekend. They eventually dropped the “brush” and turned to classic rock. 

Even when Pohl, his wife LuEllyn and their daughters Kristin and Allison moved to Crystal Lake, Ill., the musicians still kept in touch and played gigs together. 

When Pohl died April 1 due to COVID-19 complications, he was half of Illinois’ popular Bourbon Country duo. His partner, Randy Leggee, talked about his late friend on NBC’s “The Today Show” on April 23, in a segment called “Lives Well Lived.” 

In July, Warren’s brother Chris, an executive with the Philadelphia Phillies, reminisced about his brother with sportswriter Jim Salisbury for NBC Sports. 

“Heaven just got a whole lot cooler with WP up there,” Chris told Salisbury. 

Pohl was born Jan. 31, 1952, in Staten Island, N.Y., and graduated in 1969 from Waterloo’s Columbus High School.  The lifelong musician retired from Sears Holding Corp., in Hoffman Estates, Ill., where he was manager of learning systems and operations. Previously he was manager of instructional design and learning technology for U.S. Cellular in Chicago.

He loved fishing but music was his passion, said his wife LuEllyn. Her husband’s love for guitars and music “made him who he was — a kind and generous man.”

As a young man, he and his friends sold their belongings and spent a month traveling through Europe. He never lost that sense of adventure, his wife said. 

“It hit home last weekend when I visited Mississippi Palisades State Park in Savannah, Ill. We spent the last couple of years exploring along the Mississippi River.  Warren loved taking the backroads to see the sights when going from point A to B. We always ended up stopping at some interesting places,” she recalled.

When they were first married, they climbed in the car and headed west for two weeks with no destination or agenda, visiting the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone National Bank and stops in between. “One of our best trips ever,” LuEllyn said.

The couple’s English setter puppy, adopted a month before Pohl died, is now nine months old, weighs 80 pounds and is Luellyn’s constant companion. 

“Warren came up with the name Domino because he’s black-and-white spotted, and it was his favorite Van Morrison song,” she said. 

Pohl belonged to Musicians on Call, a nationwide volunteer organization that performs at health care facilities. He had performed for more than 300 patients, families and caregivers with MOC in the Chicago area.

Earlier in his career, he played with Bob and Jovita Long and opened for such Nashville cats as Faron Young, Jody Miller and Conway Twitty. 

“He was a very social guy, an extremely funny and jovial guy, a really close friend and a really good musician,” Staebell said.