Bobby Vee, dead at 73

Bobby Vee, the Fargo, ND boy who stepped into the spotlight the day after the music died, died early Monday, Oct. 24, 2016, due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease, according to the St. Cloud Times. He was 73.

On Feb. 4, 1959, Robert Thomas Velline burst onto national musical prominence at age 15 after the plane crash that claimed the lives of rock ‘n’ roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper.

Vee and his band, The Shadows filled in at the Winter Dance Party stop in Moorhead, launching his career.

That career subsequently included 38 singles that reached the Billboard Hot 100 between 1959 and 1970, including “Suzie Baby,” “Devil Or Angel,” “Rubber Ball,” “Take Good Care of My Baby,” “Run To Him,” and “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes.”

Vee had been in hospice care at The Wellstead of Rogers & Diamondcrest, a memory care facility where the Avon resident lived for the final 13 months of his life.

“It’s kind of a blessing,” said Dr. Rick Rysavy, Vee’s primary care physician and close friend. “There was no reason for him to suffer any longer.”

Vee and his family — wife Karen, sons Jeff, Tommy, and Robby, and daughter Jenny — moved from Los Angeles to St. Cloud in 1980, and immediately made an impact on the community.

The family’s “Rockin’ Round the Clock” fundraiser concerts generated more than $1 million for Cathedral High School.

Vee was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease Jan. 7, 2011, at age 67.

His last public musical performance was July 3, 2011, at Joetown Rocks in St. Joseph.

Karen Velline died Aug. 3, 2015, of complications from a chronic lung disease. Bobby Vee moved to The Wellstead the following month, and his health took a downward turn.

“I told Jeff that it was time to pull the family together,” said Rysavy, who visited Vee. “I told them he might have 72 hours.”