- It is with great sadness that I record the death of Denis on 12 July 2011 at the age of 77.
- Denis was at FGS from 1944 to 1952 during which time he lived in Clifton only a few hundred yards from where we hold our annual reunion. Whilst at school we became good friends, sharing common interests in cricket (Denis becoming opening batsman for the school team) and in cycling.
- We spent a number of happy cycling holidays together, the most memorable being the one where we cycled to the south coast and back covering some 600 miles. I still have a cherished photograph from that holiday, of Denis standing in front of one of Kent's famous beauty spots. I wonder now how we found the energy for all those miles!
- In his final year at school, Denis won a scholarship to Christ's College, Cambridge where he subsequently gained a degree in Physics. On leaving university in 1955, he did his national service in the RAF. He then went to work for Thorn EMI where he was engaged in government research, no doubt utilising his expert academic knowledge and background, and where he rose to a senior position. He stayed there for 33 years until he retired.
- His retirement then gave him the opportunity to engage in a long-held ambition to learn to ski and he and his family spent many happy holidays at their apartment in the French Alps. Sadly after 51 years of very happy marriage, his wife, Susan, died in 2007.
- Denis and I enjoyed a friendship spanning 66 years and although he lived in Esher, in Surrey, some 200 miles from myself in Bolton, we kept in regular touch and I am privileged to have been present not only at Denis and Susan’s wedding in 1955, but also at their Ruby and Golden wedding celebrations - and sadly at their funerals.
- Denis is survived by his two children (Alayne and Ian), his two sisters (Islay, herself a former FGS student, and Marion) and his three beloved grand-daughters.
Geoffrey Tabbron, FGS 1945-53
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