WSU Hall of Fame member, former SID Dick Fry passes away at 103

May 28-PULLMAN - Richard "Dick" Fry, a member of Washington State's Athletics Hall of Fame and a longtime sports information director, died Wednesday in Pullman.

Fry was 103.

A native of Oroville, California, Fry began working at WSU in 1952 when he wrote alumni news. Five years later, he became sports information director at WSU, and in 1970, he took the reins as the school's director of news and information services. In all, he spent more than 50 years working at Washington State.

Fry, a 2009 inductee into the WSU Hall of Fame and a 1993 inductee into the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame Scroll of Honor, made an indelible impact on the Cougar sports community. In 2024, WSU recognized as such by naming the athletics communications office the Richard B. "Dick" Fry Athletics Communications Suite. Additionally, Fry was enshrined into the Pullman Walk of Fame in 2007.

Even after retiring in 1985, Fry remained deeply ingrained with the sports programs. He produced stories that made appearances in WSU football gameday programs well into this century, and he released his first book, "The Crimson and The Gray - 100 years with the WSU Cougars," which detailed the history of WSU student-athletes, coaches and teams. That was one of three books written for Washington State's 100-year anniversary, and it was the most popular.

Nearly 30 years later, Fry released a follow-up, "101 Old Re-Fry'd Cougar Tales," a collection of his stories highlighting individuals and teams throughout Washington State's history.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 7:05 PM.