Denis was a true friend to me and to my family for more than fifty years. We met initially, and became friends, through our official responsibilities in Canberra on behalf of the NZ and Australian governments. Thus, Denis was a guest when Mary and I were married in Canberra on Waitangi Day 1970. I was transferred shortly after that to Wellington, where our daughter Bridget was born. Much to our surprise and delight, Denis and Dolores later organised a fleeting reunion at Wellington airport  as they were leaving NZ on their way to  Stockholm where Denis was to take up his immigration post at the Australian Embassy. Many years later, Denis was a guest at Bridget’s wedding in Sydney.
 
In the latter part of 1973 Mary and I decided, for family reasons, to return to Australia. The Whitlam era was under way and the Australian Public Service was growing rapidly. I was recruited by the new Department of the Special Minister of State (known colloquially as SMOS). The permanent head, a notion that no longer exists, was Peter Lawler, who had spent his senior executive career at the centre of government, including secondment in the 1950s to the UK Cabinet Office. The department was at first very small. Most of its initial “little collection of interesting  functions” as Peter later described them, were transferred from the Prime Minister’s Department. But the Whitlam government had new missions for it as well. There were also many Royal Commissions and other inquiries to be set up, resourced, serviced, and supported through their reporting processes. 
 
When Denis returned to Canberra from Sweden, he joined the Department, which was later was later repackaged and augmented as the first Department of Administrative Services,  recognising the various “common services”  that it provided to departments and agencies.  He had several very significant roles there, including as the Executive Officer to the Secretary – a Senior Executive role in his case – and as a Division Head. He and Peter developed a lifelong friendship.
 
I myself worked closely with Denis on  various matters, and, like others who have reminisced on that period, and benefited from the experience.
 
In Canberra we also enjoyed  the generous hospitality of Denis and Dolores their home in Swinger Hill. (For those unfamiliar Canberra, this a local unofficial name for the hill on which Swinger Trig Station is located. It does not connote colourful behaviour by the residents. The Trig Station is named after Louis Swinger, who surveyed the surrounding land.)
 
After Denis departed Canberra for Sydney and the National Crime Authority we continued to keep in touch over the years, meeting when opportunities permitted, in Canberra and in Sydney. We were exchanging messages on matters including religion, current events, history, and genealogy until I received the very sad news of his passing from Siobhan. I, like many others, will continue to miss his warm personality, and good counsel.