Philip -Jesse- Ebel

Philip "Jesse" Ebel, 64, of Rimrock, of the Hired Hands Band, passed away December 19 in Quartzite. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of the late Philip Franklin Ebel and June Marie Denney. He grew up in Greendale, Indiana. At the age of 12 his family moved to Aurora, Indiana where he became interested in guitar, and by the age of 13 had put together his first band which played for many of the school dances and local, hometown events all through high school. After high school, he had another band and drove school bus before moving to Florida where he played in Hotel lounges as a single. In 1980 he moved to Jackson, WY. He eventually put together a new country band who became popular with the locals and recorded an album which expanded their popularity and put them on tour. Jesse and I met in 1982 at one of the local saloons where he and his band were playing. We were married on August 24th, 1985. Rising real estate prices forced us to move to Ennis, MT in 1987. Jesse continued his music, playing singles and duos and driving school bus again until he eventually worked me into the act. Our daughter Molly was born in 1995. In 1996 we began travelling to AZ in the winter months, playing in RV Resorts. We eventually became full time RVers and followed the snowbirds, playing in Resorts through Washington, Oregon, California and Arizona, serving as a minister and song leader in many of the resorts. By the time Molly was 2, she became a part of the act, singing a couple of songs to start us off, and by age 7 was a full time member of the band. He recorded many records, cassettes and CDs. He was a member of the Beaver Creek Baptist Church and served several years on their worship team. In 2003, Jesse began driving school bus and teaching band classes for Pathways Charter School in Camp Verde. The school moved to Rimrock in 2005. In 2008, we finally settled into a home in Rimrock to be closer to work. Jesse retired from school bus driving in 2013, but continued teaching band classes for both Rimrock Public High School and South Verde High School and was loved by music lovers of all ages. He will be missed by all. He leaves his wife Michelle Ebel; a daughter Molly May Ebel of Camp Verde; two brothers David Ebel of Indiana and Michael Denney of Georgia; two sisters, Neysa Lambert and Linda Ebel, both of Indiana. A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 9 in the Beaver Creek Baptist Church at 10:30 AM. An online guestbook is available at www.westcottfuneralhome.com