From the Bench: Recalling the Life of Henry Drosky, the "Yup Yup Man," a Regular at Area Sports Events
By Jeff Toquinto on March 11, 2018 from Sports Blog
By Jeff Toquinto on March 11, 2018 from Sports Blog
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I started dating my wife about 5 years ago and as relationships go, you don't always learn about a significant other's family entirely up front. I had learned that her mom and dad had met at WVU and her father was from Morgantown. I had also heard of uncle Henry who lived in his mother's basement. I believe I even heard the words "yep yep" thrown around. Eventually I learned that uncle Henry was born with a hole in his heart and wasn't expected to survive, because at the time medicine wasn't as advanced as it is today. Because of this condition he was a little slow and lived with his mother his entire life. I also heard stories of how he went to almost every football game and he used to carry around a radio with him to listen to the games. I learned that when there were away games, bus drivers would give him rides even though he didn't have the money to pay the fare.
After learning about him and being a WVU football fan I started doing some research and to my surprise there were videos of him on Youtube, articles on blogs and new sites, and stories about him. Learning about uncle Henry has been a very rewarding experience. To them he's just uncle Henry, but to other out there he was a bit of an icon. I believe they even still have a football tucked away that one of the WVU teams had autographed for him. I'll have to get it out and put it in a case, but not as a tribute to WVU football itself, but as a tribute to uncle Henry and his love of the team.
Posted by Corbin Kronk
Aug. 30, 2018 at 11:30 AM EST
Henry Drosky did live in East View, he lived just a couple of houses from where I lived on Washington Street. He lived with an elderly woman and her husband and we always called her Mrs. Drosky, I always assumed she was his mother, but she was elderly so she could have been his grandmother. She helped him groom himself and she washed his clothes and he was on his way. Us kids played at the house and saw him all the time and just went on about what we were playing. Henry never hurt anyone and was harmless, I never knew what was wrong with Henry and really didn't care, I was at his house several times when he was there and he was harmless. Henry lived in his own world and was happy there. As I got a little older, I always wondered what would happen to him when Mrs. Drosky passed. Thankful, I know, he was taken care of, Rest in Peace, Henry, you deserve it.
Posted by Mary Phares
Mar. 12, 2018 at 5:49 PM EST
I remember arriving at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona for the National Championship game (1989 Fiesta Bowl - WVU -vs Notre Dame) with my dad, good buddy Billy DeMarco and his uncle Lou DeMarco and the first person we see that we knew, Mr Yup Yup himself Henry. He was all decked out in Mountaineer gear and with a bunch of WVU students. They told me he was living in a frat house with them in Morgantown and they drove cross country to the game.
Posted by KEVIN CARBACIO
Mar. 11, 2018 at 3:30 PM EST
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