Voice of St. Mary’s football steps down after 30 years
· Yahoo Sports
DELL RAPIDS, S.D. (KELO) -- A fixture of Friday Night Lights in Dell Rapids is stepping down.
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For three decades, Dave LeBrun has been the public address announcer for St. Mary's football.
But after an ALS diagnosis, LeBrun decided to pass the torch.
For the past 30 years, it has been Dave LeBrun's voice guiding fans along as they take in St. Mary's football in Dell Rapids.
But before he was the voice of the Cardinals, LeBrun served as a spotter.
"Then, the guy that was announcing, he decided to coach, so I just took over," Dave LeBrun said.
Back then, the football program was still developing.
SD athletic officials on Protect College Sports Act"We'd have to set up the football field, so we would come into town, he'd help set up the goalpost, bring those out, and then we'd take the flatbed over to the city park, go get the bleachers at the baseball diamond and bring them over," Dave's son, Brian LeBrun, said.
Dave also didn't always have the luxury of sitting in a press box. He used to call the games from the bed of a pickup truck. But eventually, Dave helped spearhead an upgrade.
"He organized them building the crow's nest out at Rickeman Field in the outfield that could be used for the football team and for the football announcers. That was the first crow's nest for St. Mary's football," Dave's son, Scott LeBrun, said.
In the years since then, Dave has helped the program grow even more.
"He's always been putting on a fundraiser with the sweet corn that he's planting a plot for. And then has members of the football team and some other boosters in the community come out, and they help with that," Brian LeBrun said.
In recent years, St. Mary's has shared a field with Dell Rapids High School, but wherever Dave was announcing, his personality and sense of humor have always shone.
"He mounted a backup horn and an electric handle. That way, when teams got pushed back because of a penalty, he played the backup horn so that everyone knew that the other team was backing up," Dave's son, Josh LeBrun, said.
"He had came up with the idea to get a train horn. For years, and I don't know what stopped that, but when we scored a touchdown, he tried to let the whole town know," Scott LeBrun said.
The LeBrun name has been responsible for some of those St. Mary's touchdowns.
"After my sons played, I had a grandson that played, and some nephews and great-nephews. A lot of LeBruns have played for St. Mary's," Dave LeBrun said.
And having Dave on the mic during their games proved to be an advantage for them.
"Back in the day, if he didn't know who got the tackle, it was an easy default, so we might have picked up some extra tackles on the stat sheet if the stat girls didn't know and he didn't know. He just, would announce our name, and we might have had a couple bonus tackles those times," Scott LeBrun said.
There's no doubt that Dave has become a mainstay of Friday Night Lights in Dell Rapids, but unfortunately, Dave's time as public address announcer for St. Mary's has come to an end.
The night our crew was there, it was Dave's final time announcing. He was recently diagnosed with ALS. Dave and his children say the support the family has received, like the shirts that were worn Friday night, is appreciated.
"We've just seen a lot of people reaching out and asking how we're doing, asking, how they can help, just want to see how he's doing," Josh LeBrun said.
"I appreciate everybody's backing me through this trying time," Dave LeBrun said.
And as Dave moves into this next chapter of his life, his kids can't help but reflect on the things he's provided for them both in and out of the press box.
"He's kind of just been a great example to us of what hard work is," Josh LeBrun said.
"I think about him as my first coach and kind of an inspiration for everything," Scott LeBrun said.
"Very thankful for everything he's done for us," Brian LeBrun said.
Friday night lights in Dell Rapids won't be the same without his voice.
Another thing Dave is known for is installing the old St. Mary's scoreboard on his farm, which sits along Interstate 29 near Dell Rapids. He would display the final scores for drivers to see.
September 11th, 2026, Dave's last day as the public address announcer for St. Mary's, was also declared Dave LeBrun Day in Dell Rapids.
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