The day was inevitable, but somehow we never thought it would come. Dennis Brock passed away, aged 101 in July. He had lived his whole life in Sunbury, brought up by his grandparents in Church Street and eventually moving with his new bride Joyce to the first house built in Loudwater Road, which at the time was surrounded by fields. Much of his life revolved around bell ringing and St Mary’s church. He was tower captain of St Mary’s for 75 years and continued to maintain the bells until only a couple of years ago. His knowledge and enthusiasm was passed on to many new bell ringers, of all ages.
Dennis served in WW2, took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk and was captured and held prisoner by the Nazis. He was subjected to dreadful treatment, resulting in great physical and mental hardship. He almost lost the use of his legs because of malnutrition. But his faith saw him through. Despite all the hardships, Dennis never had a bad word for anyone. He was such a positive man, always interested in others and always full of interesting stories.
In his younger days, once the bell ringing bug had bitten, Dennis took to his trusty Raleigh bicycle to enable him to travel around the UK to ring bells. He told me he once cycled to Lincoln to ring the bells. He kept immaculately written diaries of his cycling trips which are in themselves an incredible record of how life in the 1930’s and 40’s was. Dennis was a generous and open character. He loved visiting schools to talk to children about his war experiences and show them his treasure trove of memorabilia. To have had the chance to have such a direct link with history, old Sunbury and a very much simpler life is so special. Those of us who met Dennis will all have our own memories of him. He leaves an incredible legacy to so many and was such an example of genuine good values. RIP Dennis.