...retired Army Chief Warrant Officer; 64
MIDDLETOWN, NY - Retired Chief Warrant Officer, Richard Noel Dennis, U.S. Army, age 64, a former Tewksbury resident, died Monday, January 9, 2012, at the Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown, NY, after a courageous three year battle with cancer. His cancer was thought to have been caused by his contact with "Agent Orange" during the Vietnam War.
He was born in Fall River, October 2, 1947 a son of the late James and Eleanor (Cooney) Dennis, and was raised in Tewksbury. Upon graduation from the Walden Vocational High School in Medford, he enlisted into the U.S. Army. He served for twenty years, and was honorably discharged in 1988 at the rank of Chief Warrant Officer. He was awarded nunmerous medals, commendations and citations during his twenty years of service to his country. In his childhood, and later on his tours of duty around the world with the Army, he was active in the Boy Scouts of America, locally with St. William's B.S.A. Troop, and internationally with the Eagle Scout Program. His dedication to Scouting had a positive and powerful impact on hundreds of children. He also possessed encyclopedic information about Native Americans and was an Indian hobbiest, recreating and manufacturing all things familiar to American Indians.
In his Army retirement, he worked as a Junior Army R.O.T.C. teacher beginning in Dorchester, MA, the Minisink Valley High School in N.Y. and throughout the tri-state NY, NJ, PA area. Upon retirement in 2008, he was recognized by his students and Cadets as "a true professional mentor of Cadets."
He is survived by two brothers, Edward J. Dennis and his wife Claire (Desrosiers) of Lowell, and Bruce Dennis of Nashua, NH; a former sister-in-law and friend, Dorethea (McGurl) Dennis of Nashua, NH; and several nieces and nephews.
His Funeral Mass was celebrated on Saturday Januery 14, in St. William's Church, Tewksbury. Burial with Army Honors followed in Tewksbury cemetery. Memorials to the American Cancer Society, 30 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701 will be appreciated.