Dennis Rogers

Dennis Rogers' Cornish origins were recalled in music at his funeral on June 7 at Kingsdown Crematorium, where the Rev Canon Jane Curtis, vicar of Royal Wootton Bassett, officiated. The well-attended service began with Camborne Town Band's rendition of Trelawney (the Cornish national anthem), and concluded with The Floral Dance.

In his youth, Dennis trained as an air gunner in the RAF, and was in uniform when he and his wife Joyce first met on a train journey with her parents.

Addresses were exchanged, a whirlwind romance ensued, and in 1946 Dennis and Joyce were married at St Bartholomew's Church, Wootton Bassett, Joyce's home town. A reception followed, at The Angel, and Dennis completed his RAF service in Egypt and Iraq before the couple settled locally.

After demob, Dennis was employed at at Moredon Power Station, and commuted by moped. He helped Joyce's father with photographic work, particularly weddings, and mended clocks and watches, including the Wootton Bassett church clock. Dennis had a lifelong passion and skill for horology and engineering.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the growing family moved to Tanners Close, and later to the newly built Milton's Way. Dennis worked at United Dairies in Wootton Bassett, and had a long career in the engineering side of the food industry. He was a volunteer retained fireman at Wootton Bassett until 1968 before promotion took the family to Wells and Chichester.

Dennis and Joyce returned to Wiltshire in retirement, and regularly attended St Bartholomew's Church at Wootton Bassett. They received a card from the Queen for their recent 72nd wedding anniversary. Their sons, Christopher and Michael, both live in the area, and there are two grandchildren.

Dennis' skill as a horologist was reflected in the appropriate choice of a Bible reading on the subject of Time, from the book of Ecclesiastes, at his funeral. His granddaughter Simone read a personal tribute, in verse.

The development of dementia prompted Dennis' final move into a care home in Swindon, and he died in hospital after a short illness.

Many relatives and friends shared further reminiscences at Stanton House Hotel, after the service. Memorial donations for the Alzheimer's Society may be sent c/o Maslin Funeral Service, 118a, High Street, Royal Wootton Bassett SN4 7AU.