The eulogy for Dennis Young was read by his son Jonathan.
"For as long as I can remember and for many years before, Dennis was a performer. He met my Mum on stage and made many friends there over the years. It provided an outlet for his gregarious nature. He performed in plays and light operas and was a leading member of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society where he played many leading roles. My childhood years resounded to the songs from the shows and the lines of the plays he was learning.
It was his teaching career that brought him to Dorset where I grew up. It suited him perfectly, it gave him a captive audience. He taught many children who now remember those times fondly.
He was always the centre of attention for children. I recall his Granddaughter Alison’s 6th birthday party when he came and sat at the dining table and put on a party hat. It was the cue for all the kids to descend on him. He was surrounded for several minutes by a group of ever more excited six year olds, bringing him more and more hats until he couldn’t see.
When he retired from teaching he and Mum moved to Spain and a new circle of friends.
Once again the sketches and plays and performances brought many people into contact with his sense of humour. Whatever the occasion, he had a story ready for it. Not all were appropriate for the situation, but Dad was an entertainer and he couldn’t let a good joke go to waste.
I always thought of them in Spain as being on holiday. As the years went by, my view never changed, they were still ‘on holiday’. Eventually they had been ‘on holiday’ for so long that they needed a holiday. Dad was never very good with flying, but he steeled himself and they flew to America, where they took other flights to get about and see the sights. By the time they were back home again they’d taken something like eleven different flights and Dad dined on the stories of bumpy take offs and mechanical failures for months after.
We have been greatly touched by the number of people who have taken the trouble to send get well cards and letters during the course of his treatment. We have been more recently grateful for their condolences. A great many people have rung from both Spain and the UK and we thank them all.
Dennis’ last few months have been spent with his family. Perversely, it was his poor health that I have to thank for that.
He came with Mum for a fortnight in August last year to celebrate their Ruby Wedding Anniversary and so began the course of events that kept him close to me until he was so suddenly taken ill with the massive stroke that finally ended his life.
In all the time he was here he endured gradually increasing pain and discomfort, and did so with dignity. He was not irritable or snappy, but kept his humour throughout the whole ordeal. He was very brave and he won my renewed respect in facing it the way he did.
Borne on Christmas day, something for which his family doctor at the time never forgave him as it interrupted his Christmas lunch, his birthday has generally been celebrated in Spain because Mum and Dad have avoided being in the UK during winter, maintaining that it is always cold and wet and they didn’t want to catch a cold or the flu. Again it was his ill health that allowed me to have him with me to celebrate his last birthday.
Aside from his condition, he has been very fit and it has allowed them to make the most of the time here, despite the wet and the cold.
I know that these months spent with his family and his grandchildren have meant the world to him.
These memories, that we all have of him, are ours now to keep him with us in our hearts."
Dennis was born on Christmas Day 1930 and died on April the 25th 2003.
He was interred in the graveyard of St. Botolph's parish church in Stow Longa on the 8th of May 2003.