Windsor's athletic and academic community has suffered another loss.
The University of Windsor announced former dean of the Faculty of Human Kinetics and Director of Athletics Dr. Bob Boucher passed away Sunday at the age of 75. His death comes just over a week after UWindsor track coach Dennis Fairall's passing on Nov. 6.
Like Fairall, Dr. Boucher is enshrined in the Windsor-Essex Sports Hall of Fame, having been inducted as a builder in 2010. The expert in sport management had a role in nearly every sporting event held at UWindsor over his 37-year career.
Current Athletic Director Mike Havey says he was also the driving force behind improvements to UWindsor's athletic and human kinetics facilities until his retirement in 2011.
"All those things happened under Bob's watch and his leadership, so it was behind the scenes but so very impactful," he says.
Havey says the news comes less than 24-hours after saying his final goodbyes to another friend who had a huge impact on his life.
"First Dennis Fairall and now Bob. Bob was the reason I ended up at the university; he's been a great colleague, friend, mentor and he's such an accomplished person," Havey added.
Boucher took Havey under his wing after hiring him to coach the Men's Basketball Team in 1991.
"We arrived here with our youngest son as a newborn and we lived for our first week in Windsor at Bob's house," he says. "It was a tremendous welcome and friendship that just deepened over the years."
Dr. Boucher also served as the President of the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) and the Canadian Intramural Recreation Association (CIRA) during his career.
In 1997, Dr. Boucher was presented with the Lancers "A Award" for his dedication to athletics on campus and was inducted into the University of Windsor's Alumni Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.