LARAMIE – A corner of the newly refurbished press box at War Memorial Stadium will feel empty when Wyoming welcomes Northern Iowa on Saturday for the home opener.
 
Dennis Dreher, a beloved and dedicated volunteer for UW athletics over the last half century, died on Aug. 18 following a battle with cancer. He was 73.
 
Since the early 1970s, through good times and bad for the Cowboys and Cowgirls, Dreher was a reliable fixture in the football press box and courtiside on press row in the Arena-Auditorium working as a public address announcer, statistician and in various other roles.
 
Kevin McKinney, one of the nation's most respected sports information directors during his distinguished career in communications, took full advantage of "Denny's" tireless work ethic and relished their friendship for over 50 years.
 
"The first time I ever met him he said, 'I'd like to help athletics,'" McKinney said. "He started out as PA man, but it didn't matter to him. If we had someone not show up for something, Denny would step in."
 
McKinney said he wishes he could have created a full-time position for Dreher in the athletic department, but the university benefited from his versatility over the decades.
 
Dreher worked in UW's Admissions Office, the Atmospheric Sciences program, served as Director of the International Students and Scholars Office and was part adjunct faculty member in the history department where he taught "Warfare and Technology" and "U.S. Military History" courses. He was the Assistant Dean of Student Judicial Affairs until retiring in 2007 and the Dean of Students Office and in Campus Visits Office until re-retiring in 2011.
 
"He was just such a great guy, and the funny thing about Denny is he just had to keep busy," recalled Tim Harkins, who joined the UW athletic department in 1991 and later succeeded McKinney as the Associate Athletic Director for Communications. "He told me, 'Tim, I've always kind of failed at retirement.' He was always just such a pleasure to have around."
 
Dreher was born on Aug. 20, 1951, in St. Joseph, Mich., and raised in Niles, Mich., which is east of Chicago.
 
"We became friends despite the fact that he was a Cubs fan," quipped McKinney, an avid supporter of the St. Louis Cardinals. "He was as passionate about the Cubs as he was about the Cowboys."
 
After graduating from UW in 1975, Dreher began his career in higher education at his alma mater. In 1986, he moved to Powell to work as the Director of Enrollment and Assistant Dean of Students at Northwest College before returning to Laramie in 1989.
 
Amazingly, Dreher made the roughly 750-mile round-trip drive from Powell to Laramie for every game of the Fennis Dembo and Paul Roach glory days for the Cowboy basketball and football programs, respectively.
 
"He never missed a game. I'm serious. He was at every game from Powell," McKinney said. "He loved athletics, and he loved to work. He was one of us."
 
When former Cowboy star Eric Leckner was playing in Sacramento, the Kings scheduled an exhibition game in Laramie before the 1991-92 season. Dreher volunteered to help Harkins transition the stat crew from manual box scores to using a computer to track all the assists, rebounds, points and other details of the NBA game.
 
Dreher's sense of humor created some levity as the stat crew attempted to keep up with the stress of the pace and the computer age.
 
"The opening tap they had a play drawn up where they tapped it and then they lobbed it to the basket for a dunk. So, they lob it, the guy goes up to dunk it and it goes off the back rim and the ball comes all the way back to half court where the other team grabs it, lobs it to one of their players and he dunks it," Harkins said of the frenetic opening sequence. "We're all just sitting there, nobody has done a thing … (laughing) and Denny looks at me and goes, 'Is this how all these games are going to be?'"
 
Dreher was inducted into the UW Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020 after missing two home football games over the previous 45 years and never missing a home men's basketball game from 1975-96. He also served as the public address announcer for the Cowgirl basketball team from its inaugural season in 1973 through 1986.
 
There will be a noticeable absence in the press box when the Cowboys return to the field on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium.
 
"He wanted to be at this season in the worst way," McKinney said. "He didn't quite make that, but we were all better for knowing him and working with him."
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.
 
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