Browerville sports icon makes final touchdown: Dressen will live on in the hearts and minds of many
by Karin L. Nauber
When people hear the name John Joseph “Jack” Dressen, even if they never met the man, they know his name if they ever attended school at Browerville or if they ever attended a football or track event at the school.
The Dressen Sports Complex is named in his honor.
Dressen joined his late wife, Jo, on November 13, when he passed away peacefully in his sleep.
Interestingly, this would have been the 71st anniversary of the couple who were now reunited in death.
The following story was written using several resources including Dressen’s obituary (see our November 20, 2019 issue for the full obituary), a letter to the editor which he had written for the Browerville Blade in 2015 and an article written in July 2016 by me that appeared in the July 13, 2016 Browerville Blade with the help of an article from the Long Prairie Leader from March 16, 1978 about Dressen.
We hope you enjoy this memorial of this local legends’ life.
“Browerville’s pride makes the difference,” proclaimed the headline from the March 16, 1978 issue of the Long Prairie Leader.
That same headline could be used today to describe the town, the school and the people that make up the small, but active and thriving community of Browerville.
Athletics in Browerville have long been a source of the town’s pride.
When reading back over the past years in the back issues of the Browerville Blade, one will find many articles about the school and town teams and the pride in those teams, win or lose.
Back in March of 1978, Jack Dressen, who was then Browerville’s athletic director, took great pride in his school, his athletes and the facilities where the athletes practiced and played. . . .