I have many happy memories of Dennis as academic colleague, Labour Party stalwart
and friend. We often had lunch together in Staff Club, sometimes talking engineering
and mathematics and I was delighted on one occasion to be able to help with a small
piece of mathematics for which he insisted on giving me undeserved credit as one
of the authors of the paper in which it was used. It was Dennis who introduced me
to the Christian Socialist Movement.
He was indeed a true Christian, one whose faith, I’m sure, was the driving force
behind his Labour Party commitment and his AUT activities. I had a great respect
for Dennis and it was a privilege to have known him and share in some of his activities.
Like so many in Sheffield I shall miss him. Derek Collins
A tribute written by Stuart Bennett on behalf of Hallam Constituency Labour Party
Dennis came to Sheffield, from London in the mid-1960s as a lecturer in Chemical
Engineering at the University. In London he had been active in the Labour Party,
the Fabian Society and the Cooperative movement and he transferred all these activities
to Sheffield and in Sheffield added many more - he was a joiner and supporter of
causes that were consonant with his core political beliefs
Dennis was a member of the Methodist Church and of the Christian Socialist Movement
and his Christianity underpinned his service to the Labour Party and his willingness
to help others. He was also a lifelong supporter of Trade Unions, for many years
he was an active member of both the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial
Staff union (ASTMS) and the Association of University Teachers, his membership of
ASTMS was because he wanted to be a member of a union affiliated to the TUC.
In the Labour Party he was active at branch level serving as secretary and treasurer
of Hallam Branch (and in difficult times he added chairperson and other roles), and
for many years was a delegate to Hallam CLP and to DLP. Dennis was not afraid to
ask difficult questions and to challange views (sometimes at length) when he thought
that the party was being sent in the wrong direction. In latter years at DLP, as
ill health over took him, he struggled to express himself clearly and eventually
he even had to give up the canvassing, leafleting and knocking-up that he had done
in many wards of the City. We thank him for his commitment and comradeship.
