Denis was particularly fond of my mother Joan Carmody and Aunty Pod (dec) and he cherished his lifelong friendship with them, no more than that, he insisted on being their kinsman. The dolly sisters called Denis a “saint” for his love and devotion to Dolores; he  was legendary as they watched his care for her till her last breath.

Siobhan and us Carmody kids (Sue, Lisa, Tony and Josh) grew up under our parents' watchful eye and they were our village elders guiding us through childhood and they would gossip "news”, laugh loudly at our antics, smirk at silly mistakes, gave us lots of smiles and always encouraged us to strive to succeed. We could do no wrong in their eyes!

Denis was incredibly saddened at my father's (Tom) passing in 1982 but he along with others gave a glorious memorable wake singing lots of Irish songs after the church service thus making us laugh and our grief a little lighter!

Others have written about Denis' significant contribution to the Australian policy-making, his representation of Australia in overseas postings and ensuring Australians were safer (National Crime Authority (NCA)). I was once in need of a referee for the APS graduate program so Denis invited me to see him at the NCA. After the security screening I was expecting grey suits beavering away with pens and calculators or scribbling on blackboards. Instead I found him raucously laughing and enjoying a joke that one of his colleagues had shared with him. He was also smoking his pipe. Denis did love to laugh and never took himself too seriously. He also helped others by seeing the funny side of life! I won the APS position and like Denis gave over 30 years of public service. (Thanks Denis!)

After Dolores' passing he was quick to introduce Bridget to the two dollies and they were pleased that he found his university love again. They eventually understood his reason for moving to England where he enjoyed Bridget’s companionship and love in his final years. Denis stayed in touch and never tired of our news.

The Carmodys were quite saddened to hear of Denis’ passing from COVID19 (damn!). There is no doubt my father and others would be rocking up to give Denis a wonderful welcome party upstairs for truly he was a well loved wonderful person with a tremendous sense of humour!

Love Lisa