In Loving Memory
When Dennis was born his father was a factory process worker, whose own parents had died when he was 12 years old and who was sent down the coal mines to work.
During World War II Dennis was left as the man of the house, as his father and elder brother were given the call of the clarion. Left at home with his mother and sisters, his aim was to buy a motorcycle, which he eventually accomplished by saving the money he would get selling papers to German prisoners of war in the local POW camp.
He also attended the local school, often being taught by older students, as his teachers were also called up for active war service. It was more than the frontline soldiers who had to sacrifice. For the war children, their education was being sacrificed. But he did well, having a natural ability, and gained his Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics certificates by the time he was 18 years old.
However, once again he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he could not use his certificates and join the workforce. He was called up for compulsory National Service! In no time at all he was kitted out, given a passport and shipped off to Egypt, where he stayed for the next two and a half years.
Returning to the UK and shaking the sand out of his boots, the British government supplied him with a university tutor to make amends for interrupting his education for the previous 30 months. Back up to scratch, he applied for a job with the giant ICI conglomerate as an industrial chemist and joined a factory involved in the production of titanium metal.
During the next six years he rose in the ranks to the position of chief analyst, and whilst that sounds very grand, financially it was not. After hours he would repair TV sets to help make ends meet for his wife and children.
He continued in the Titanium industry, rising progressively for the next 30 years. From the laboratory side he moved into management, commissioning plants and then into Quality Assurance, eventually becoming a QA auditor, a position reserved only for those with enormous experience in all aspects of industrial production processes.
By 1987 his wife of many years died suddenly and unexpectedly. His daughters were grown up and married with families of their own. Dennis decided to travel to Australia (and Tasmania), South Africa, Brazil, Europe and an Asian country called Thailand, where he was to look at work being carried out at the TPI factory in Rayong.
He enjoyed Thailand. He liked the Thai people, both those in industry and without. He met a Thai lady, Naiyana, who would later become his wife.
In 1990 he decided to take early retirement and returned to Thailand. Not to vegetate in the corner, but to enjoy his life in this friendly environment.
Dennis was inducted as a member of the Rotary Club of Jomtien-Pattaya on 1 May 1991. He served as president in 1995-96. He went on to serve as Assistant Governor. He was called upon to serve in almost every position in the club because of his know-how and experience. He was extremely passionate about the humanitarian work that Rotarians did. Dennis played a leading role in all of the club’s service projects. He was instrumental in motivating and encouraging his fellow members to serve humanity by working for the betterment of the lives of the underprivileged and the needy.
He loved his Rotary club dearly and was the pillar of strength and stability for his fellow members. He was firm in his beliefs, yet compassionate in his actions as he steered his club through troubled waters whenever the need arose.
At the bathing rites ceremony last Tuesday, his wife Noiy related to his friends that just a short while before his passing, Dennis asked that his Rotary badge of office be placed around his neck. Feebly and lovingly he held onto to it as he breathe his last.
Dennis the perpetual secretary of the Jomtien-Pattaya Rotary Club was a mild mannered Englishman. Despite outward appearances, Dennis had more experiences than many, been through tougher times than most, and yet retained that loving and gentlemanly air all the way to the end of his earthly existence.
Rest in eternal peace dear friend and brother. We will dearly miss you.
BOX:
The cremation ceremony will be held at Wat Khao Pothong Temple on Saturday 4 March 2017. Prayers will commence at 3 p.m.
The temple is situated on Siam Country Club Road, to the right of Mab Prachan reservoir, just before entering the golf club
