Written by Tony Sumner
I had prepared the following memoir to read at Dennis Anderson’s funeral but time did not allow for this and so with the encouragement of Dennis’s family I have redrafted it for posting on the Maugersbury 21 web site, if you would be so kind.
“I first met Dennis & Kathleen at one of Diana Heber Percy’s famous ‘sweep offs’. Diana always used to host a Sunday morning drinks ‘do’ whenever new people moved into the village, a far less frequent event then than now, to introduce them to others in the community. It was clear from the start that Dennis & Kathleen were going to be an asset.
What we did not know then was that they had been at the centre of their previous neighbourhood within the local Conservative Association and were hoping for a quieter life in their retirement. Sadly Kathleen died all too soon after their arrival in Maugersbury. Kathleen had worked at the BBC, as had my partner Victor, and although they had not met there they would have an immediate bond through common colleagues and acquaintances.
My next recollection of Dennis was through the intermediary of Frank Daniels whose energies as a gardener Dennis had inherited from the previous occupant of Maugersbury Park House, Mrs Instone, and a very loyal and rewarding inheritance it was to prove to be.
Frank was the local gardener du jour, who also worked for Victor and me as well as many others in the village and so news of each was spread. I learned from him of Dennis’s tireless work for the North Cotswold Voluntary Health Centre, driving people here, there and everywhere when they were no longer able to do so for themselves. And next through the Residents’ Association Committee where as Treasurer and Social Secretary respectively, we worked closely together on village activities.
Several years ago, when Dennis heard that I had lost a home for overwintering my tender garden plants, he very generously offered to share space in his conservatory. I am not sure he realised the extent of his gesture until I first arrived with a car full to bursting with pots, announcing that there was a second similar load to follow.
However this led to winter after winter when the same procedure was followed and each winter these pots required watering and so frequent visits to the conservatory were necessary. These provided opportunities for conversations and discussions when we were able to discover common interests and put both the world and the village to right.
Entering Dennis’s conservatory on a cold winters day was a sensuous experience. The humid warmth and the smell of the earth, plus the scents of the flowers and the vegetation always reminded me of the hot houses at Kew Gardens and like there was conducive to lingering long after the watering was done and so our friendship grew. His memories of his annual holiday drive to the south of France in his beloved sports car, following the same route that he and Kathleen had made, I believe on their honeymoon and his numerous mention of their happy times together were a testament to the love and strength within their marriage. I will miss our chats together and his dry sense of humour which brightened many a dark winter day.
The village too will miss his accountancy experience as treasurer and bookkeeper, always eager to find the best deal for the village funds, although even he could not find decent interest rates in recent years!
His final gesture was to request that any surplus profits from one of our village functions be given to the NCVHC and fortunately we were able to agree to this before Dennis died but the donation was only made afterwards but a fitting tribute. We will all miss Dennis very much but hope that his family will continue to visit and attend our social functions, as they did for our recent summer lunch, and whose presence always gave him so much pleasure and our links will not be broken.”