Dennis died Jan. 24, 2022, in Alton, Ill., where he had graduated from Alton High School as class valedictorian.
At Princeton, Dennis was a member of Elm Club and active in Glee Club, but left the class after junior year and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1967. In July 1967 he married Jane Fictel, his high school sweetheart, a marriage lasting 54 years.
Dennis completed a year of law school at the University of Illinois, then enlisted in the Army during Vietnam. He trained as a Chinese-language specialist, serving in Army intelligence as an E-5 with assignments at Fort Bragg, Fort Holabird, and Camp Drake, Tokyo, in 1970-71.
After military service Dennis graduated from the University of Illinois law school in 1973. He began legal practice in Madison County, serving as assistant state’s attorney and public defender before moving to private practice. By 1982, our 15th reunion, Dennis, a devout Christian, felt called to the ministry and changed careers. He enrolled in the Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, part of the Lutheran Church of America, earning a master of divinity degree.
Dennis began ministry in the South Chicago suburb of Thornton as pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church. After semi-retiring from full-time pastoral work, he returned to Concordia Seminary in later years for advanced study of theology. He decided to stay in the St. Louis and Alton area and began humanitarian work for the Office of Disaster Assistance following hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, and for Provident, a nonprofit charitable organization serving the greater St. Louis region. He also did occasional pastoring, filling in temporarily for transition or vacationing ministers.
Dennis retained his interest in singing, participating all his life in barbershop choruses and quartets. Over the years he served as president and elder of his local church congregation and as president and board member of the Belleville, Ill., chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society.
Dennis is survived by his wife, Jane; daughter Cynthia; sons Alex and Jeff; grandsons Quentin, and Xavier; and brother Robert.