This eulogy was written by Neil and Helen Arbon and read by them at his funeral at Three Counties Crematorium on 17th July 2023.

As the great man himself would have said, we were ‘chuffed as nuts’ to be asked to deliver this tribute and yet we do it with a sense of slight foreboding.

Sarah, our celebrant, discussed with us that energy cannot be destroyed, so, particles of Denis’s energy are whizzing round the universe, presumably trying to find out pub opening hours across the globe.

If the particles of him which used to direct plays are here, we’d better get this right!

Formative years

Denis was born on 18th February 1948 in Stockport, Greater Manchester, to doting parents Vin and Dot. Vin had Irish roots and Denis was a proud Irishman all his life. Didn’t we all know it!

He attended Bridgehall (pronounced Bridge All in Stockport) Infant and Junior School. In later years he was very proud, knowing his political allegiance, when he discovered that he shared this educational start in life with Angela Rayner, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

Denis always maintained a strong link with Stockport, visiting regularly even after his parents died. When he read that he and Ros’s favourite pub was threatened with closure, they bought shares in it and helped save it for the local community. An active member of that campaign was also the Chair of Governors at Bridge All school and, when it was rebuilt, just before Covid, it was Denis who was asked to preside over the opening ceremony and cut the ribbon. He was very proud of that.

He excelled at primary school and a scholarship to Manchester Grammar School followed - nearly falling through because his parents couldn’t afford the uniform - an amazing achievement for a lad from humble origins.

Denis’s love of the theatre began at Grammar School. He played Goneril to Robert Powell’s Lear (all boys school, remember). The flame was ignited.

Theatre and medicine

On 29th September 1966, Denis enrolled at London Hospital Medical School. He was one of six out of eighty students selected to do a BSc in Physiology. Denis was the leading light in the group, his communication skills and kindness to the patients being outstanding. His strong principles of right and wrong made him a popular choice for President of the Student’s Union two years running.

He and friends were invited to form a Dionysian club. Securing membership involved drinking a yard of ale without the glass leaving your lips. Here we go.....

He found time to pursue his love of theatre and directed Sweeney Todd and The Lady’s Not For Burning, amongst others, to critical acclaim.

During his involvement in the drama society, he met Monica, who was to become his first wife. Eventually and amicably, they decided to go their separate ways, but their deep friendship endured and Ros and Denis are godparents to Mon and Tony’s daughters.

Not a natural athlete, Denis never lacked enthusiasm, just ability, he joined the rugby club, playing for the sixth fifteen which didn’t get many fixtures. Not to be outdone, he and a friend, Richard, formed their own team, The Taverners, and spent many hours drinking instead.

After a brief sojourn at Mile End Hospital, Denis joined Colchester General Hospital on the G.P. Training Scheme. He covered Psychology, with a stint in Severalls, to gynaecology and everything in between. It was during his time in Colchester that he discovered Ward 9, which was, in fact, The Hospital Arms over the road. In Ward 9, flushed by the success of the Dionysian Club, he went on to form The Bacchanalian Society, devoted to keeping the brewers of Colchester in gainful employment. From The Bacchanalian emerged Flash Company, a folk group who were resident at Colchester Folk Club and produced an L.P., Castle Keep. Much later, Denis went on to be a founder member of the Bures Music Festival. He was a professional founder!

After Colchester, Denis joined the Earls Colne Practice, as a partner. He was a G.P. In the age of ‘calling out the doctor’ and would often be out most of the night and still be at his desk the next day. Ros was his unpaid medical secretary and also spent the wee small hours taking calls from patients and then waiting for Denis to find the nearest phone box to ask her if he had to go to his next call or if he could come home and go to bed. No mobiles then!

Apparently, Denis had a reputation amongst the patients for being grumpy and this has been attested to by some comments on the tsunami of cards Ros has received. He did, however, have a large, loyal following of patients who loved his no nonsense approach and wouldn’t see anyone else.

Denis was a great patient advocate and would battle with surgeons, administrators and occupational health for the people in his care. He always went the extra mile for his patients. Going the extra mile once included being backstage at The Albert Hall for the 2005 reunion of Cream, as the medical professional for Jack Bruce, the bass guitarist for Cream. Jack’s insurance company would only let him on stage with a doctor in attendance and Jack would only have his own doctors there, so Denis and his partner, Paul, shared the four nights between them. I know he absolutely loved the experience, made all the sweeter because his expertise wasn't required.

I have it on very good authority that practice meetings always involved a lot of gin as, worryingly, did interviews. Earls Colne Practice number one rule: never try to keep up with Denis - a rule that has stood a lot of us here in very good stead.

His partner, Paul, said, ‘Denis didn’t define himself as a doctor, he was a doctor for a living, but he was interested in everything.’

During his time at Earls Colne , he joined Bures Drama Group where he met Ros when they were both cast in Barefoot in the Park. Ros was promised a ‘dishy doctor’ but, I quote,
‘Then Denis turned up’. Denis and Ros married on the 6th May 1978 and Denis became step father to the eight year old Jo and ten year old Kate.

Denis and SDS

Denis came into our lives in 1998 when he was playing Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor for Sudbury Dramatic Society. It was an ignominious start. One evening he stopped rehearsing to tell Helen and Annie Eddington, in no uncertain terms, to shut up. No surprises there, on all fronts. Denis later became SDS chairman and served on the Board of The Quay Theatre for over fifteen years, often through difficult times.

His love for most things Irish presented itself in the plays he directed: Three Oscar Wildes, an R.B. Sheridan and a Boucicault. He strayed from that path, but not far, when he directed Hobson’s Choice, set in Manchester. On stage, Denis excelled as Falstaff and perhaps his crowning glories were as Joe Keller in All My Sons by Arthur Miller, C.S. Lewis’s brother in Shadowlands and a hilarious portrayal of Kafka’s father in Kafka’s Dick.

Denis was a legend backstage during panto performances. Often, the main curtains would close to allow the action to continue in front allowing for a silent scene change behind. Even if he was wearing trainers, Denis’s size 12's could be heard ‘silently’ crossing the stage from as far away as Long Melford. Denis’s contribution to SDS and to the Quay Theatre as a whole was vast and one that many of us here are very grateful for.

Denis really enjoyed sport, especially the Irish rugby team, which, in his later years, gave him immense pleasure as they regularly beat England. For many years he played cricket for Bures, but Ros suspects he was only selected because of her cricket teas.

Of course, Denis followed Stockport County, his home team, although he didn’t see them much once he moved away. Shortly before he died, he and I watched The County together on television, qualifying for the play offs and I was treated to a brief history of the ground, Edgeley Park, including where he used to stand with his father.

On a less energetic level, Denis and Ros regularly played cribbage for various teams in Bures and enjoyed playing golf at Newton Green and in Ireland during their many visits.

Denis was a man of learning, an intellectual. He was knowledgeable about so many things: ancient history, opera, literature, music from classical to folk, art, architecture and so much more. He was a classicist, who liked nothing more than to show people places and objects of beauty. The many, many trips to Venice which Ros and Denis took enabled him to share his love of the city with the other people they so generously entertained.

It wasn’t always highbrow culture, I must add. On one such visit, Denis and I decided to go to watch Venezia play football. We were refused entry to the ground as we weren’t members, didn’t have our passports with us and couldn’t produce a utility bill proving who we were! Football hooligans.

More terrifying than that, was the occasion that Denis went to the toilet in the middle of the night, lost his bearings and burst into our bedroom by mistake, as Blackadder would say, tackle out!

To the end, Denis’s intellect held firm. His body was obviously failing him, but his memory and recall of places and occasions were as sharp as ever.

We like to remember Denis laughing. There was always laughter, running through his life like a thread. He laughed and we all laughed with him.

To say that we will miss him would be an understatement.