I first met Dennis - and Patty -  in Malta in 1952, and

can honestly say there has never been a dull moment in the inadequate time spent in his company in those 66 years.

Apart from the superb and entertaining hospitality in lovely Lombard Street, and later in the Harbour-commanding Sovereign House, they were generous and brave enough to visit us on both Western Australian and Queensland coasts while already of pensionable age, staying in a very small boat, and swimming in waters that were, if not shark infested, at least within cooee of them.

His patience and humour were the characteristics I remember most, and in later years his habit of starting to speak before he knew what he was going to say. 

Our deepest sympathy to Pat, and as for Dennis, I can only say the well-known Maltese farewell:  "If I don't see you some more; Hello!"