Dennis P. Long, a former top executive at Anheuser-Busch Cos. and a prominent booster of soccer here and nationally, died Oct. 28 of natural causes. Long, of Sunset Hills, was 89.
Long started as an office boy at age 17 and over three decades worked his way up to president and chief operating officer of A-B’s brewing subsidiary — the second-most powerful post at the company.
Earlier, he supervised much of Anheuser-Busch’s non-beer businesses, from yeast production to theme parks.
He resigned in 1987 after a kickback scandal involving two subordinates at the brewery; Long wasn’t implicated in any wrongdoing.
Long, Dennis
He continued working for A-B as a consultant for several years and also was involved in other business ventures such as a holding company for small businesses.
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He also raised race horses, headed a development firm that worked to land a casino in Lemay and owned Sam’s Steakhouse in south St. Louis County with his son.
During his years at Anheuser-Busch, Long became heavily involved in promoting soccer and in other sports marketing for the brewery. He was named to both the National Soccer Hall of Fame and St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame.
He also led a fundraising drive in the early 1980s to build St. Louis Soccer Park in Fenton, then was instrumental in the brewery buying the facility from a youth soccer association. (It is now World Wide Technology Soccer Park.)
Long also coached CYC youth teams and established one of the metro area’s first select soccer squads, Busch Gardens Soccer Club. He also was on a national advisory committee that pushed to bring the 1994 World Cup to the United States.
Long, an Irish American, also played a key role in expanding Anheuser-Busch operations in Ireland, including managing what was then the brewery-sponsored Irish Derby horse race. In 1986, New York-based Irish-America magazine named Long the Irish American of the Year.
Long was born in Chicago but his family moved to the Patch neighborhood in south St. Louis, where he spent much of his childhood.
He went to St. Mary’s High School and served in the Air Force. While working at A-B, he attended Washington University. In his youth, he was lead singer for a local band called the Denny Long Orchestra.
Visitation will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Seven Holy Founders Catholic Church, 6737 South Rock Hill Road in South County, followed by a memorial Mass at 11 a.m. Burial was private.
Among the survivors are his son, Patrick Long, of Grantwood Village; two daughters Tammie Werkmeister, of Sunset Hills, and Kelly Studdard, of South County; 10 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
View life in St. Louis through the Post-Dispatch photographers' lenses. Edited by Jenna Jones.
