Denis Crowley Dice was born on June 16, 1937 in Pittsburgh, PA to his loving parents Harriet and Gene Dice. The oldest of six children, he grew up in Fox Chapel, a Pittsburgh suburb, with his sister, Diane, and four brothers: Buzz, Dave, and twins George and Ed. Early on he went by “Denny,” which he was affectionately called for the rest of his life. He graduated from Central Catholic High School, where he was a star athlete in both football and track, the president of the student council, and, most importantly, where he met a beautiful young lady and his future wife, Ann Brice. Following high school, Denny attended the University of Pittsburgh for one year and then entered West Point in 1956. 

With no military history in the family it was a big change for Denny to leave Pitt for a very different future at West Point and the Army. Denny was in Company K-1, where he made lifelong friendships with Burt Spivy, Jimmy Humphries and others, keeping in touch for 50 years. He played 150-pound football, was the starting running back, and was awarded a Major “A.” Denny was a serious cadet, did well academically, had few hours or demerits, and had great friends, but his focus was being an officer in the Army. He branched Artillery, and two weeks after graduation he and Ann made the “Two-Percent Club,” getting married at St Phillip’s Roman Catholic Church in Pittsburgh. After a quick honeymoon in Wildwood, NJ and the officer’s course at Fort Sill, OK, they found themselves in familiar territory at Denny’s first assignment at a Nike site in western Pennsylvania. Next, Denny attended New Mexico State University and earned a MS in mechanical engineering in 1964. While in graduate school he was selected to join the war effort in Vietnam and assigned to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA for a year of training in Vietnamese. With his new language skills (years later Denny could still translate Vietnamese while watching TV), he was assigned to MACV as an advisor to the ARVN in the Kontum Peninsula from 1965 to 1966. Denny was in multiple direct combat actions and, as an artillery officer, was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, which says a lot about his actions in combat. 

At home, Ann was facing her own challenges while raising their three children and being pregnant with their fourth. Back from Vietnam, Denny branch transferred to Ordnance, went to the Ordnance School, and then joined the Mechanics Department at West Point. The family moved on post to Winans Road in New Brick, and Denny taught thermodynamics and heat transfer from 1969 to 1973. There, Ann and Denny made great friends and often said their time at West Point was their best and most adored assignment. Denny also coached the 150-pound Football Team with great friend Jimmy Kays and completed an MBA at Farleigh Dickinson University. Promoted to major, Denny’s next assignment was overseas again, this time to Korea and the 8th Army. There, he had multiple assignments, including battalion command of a combat support battalion. Next, Denny attend CGSC at Fort Leavenworth, KS and after graduation was assigned to the faculty there. Following Leavenworth, Denny was assigned to Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey and had the great fortune to work with his former physics “P’s”: Major General Bob Malley, Colonel Sandy Polson, classmate Lieutenant Colonel Harry White and Lieutenant General Larry Skibbie. Promoted to lieutenant colonel while at Picatinny, Denny and the family then moved to his final assignment in Scranton, PA, where he was the commandant of the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant. 

After 20 years in the Army, which he loved, Denny made the toughest decision of his life, which was to retire. Denny’s first job was as a plant manager for General Battery Co. in Reading, PA. After five successful years, he took a bold leap and, with three partners, bought the failing Hunter Fan Co in Memphis, TN. They turned the company around and conducted a successful IPO in 1987, taking the company public on the New York Stock Exchange. He saw the company through its transition and, in 1990, took his final position as the COO of Reeves Brothers Inc. in Spartanburg, SC.

 In Spartanburg, Denny and Ann considered where to retire and, enjoying the warm weather of the mid-South, bought a house on Hilton Head Island, SC. Still in their 50s with lots of energy, Denny and Ann hosted several K-1 company reunions, volunteered at St. Francis Parish and helped establish a crisis pregnancy center. Denny and Ann loved their time on Hilton Head, but unfortunately, after Denny was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, they decided to move to a wonderful high-rise apartment in the Gold Coast of Chicago to be with their oldest daughter and her family. 

After years of fighting Alzheimer’s with Ann’s constant care and continuous love, Denny died on November 30, 2017 in Chicago with his wife of 57 years and family at his bedside. Ann and Denny had four children: Julie, Mary, Denis and Kevin. Denny started somewhat of a family tradition at West Point with a son and grandson who graduated in the classes of 1989 and 2006, respectively. He was the doting grandfather to 13 grandchildren: Rick, Erin, Laura, Emily, Ellen, Rose, Eva, Claire, Katherine, Grace, Matt, Lauren, and Mike; and seven great-grandchildren: George, Lee, Gene, Vincent, Victor, Lucy and Stella. 

Finally, Denny never really said “goodbye” and instead always said “So long.” So, we too won’t say goodbye to Denny but rather “so long.”.

— The Dice children