OLD TUDORIAN (’50)
Dennis of “Menah”, Mudgee and Gordon, NSW, passed away peacefully aged 88 years, after a long life closely connected to family, farming, education and the communities in which he lived and worked. He attended Tudor House from 1946 to 1950.
Dennis began his schooling at Mudgee Public School, travelling there by pony, before spending five years as a boarder at Tudor House, where he was School Captain in 1950. He completed his schooling at The King’s School and then went on to St Andrew’s College at the University of Sydney. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in 1959 and later completed a Diploma in Agricultural Economics in 1972.
Dennis continued farming at Mudgee while also teaching at the University of Sydney, where he became Senior Lecturer in Agronomy and Sub-Dean responsible for the Professional Experience component of Faculty degrees. In this role he organised and led more than 200 excursions to farms, produce processors and research facilities in Australia and overseas and taught more than 20,000 students at various stages of their degrees. He maintained a strong interest in both farming and education throughout his working life.
He was active in industry bodies including the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science, of which he was a Fellow.
Dennis is survived by his wife Elizabeth, children Christina, Colin and Michael, grandchildren Elise, Max, Lucy, Rose, Emily, Lillian and Tom and great-grandchildren Owen, Toby and Hamish.
He lived a life of steady work, practical knowledge, generosity with his time and commitment to the people and places that mattered to him. His influence will remain in his family, in the land he farmed and in the many students and colleagues whose paths crossed his over the years. Dennis will be remembered with respect, gratitude and lasting affection by those who knew him.
