Submitted by Geoffrey Cocksedge for publication in the Croydon Advertiser

The 5th Croydon Company of The Boys’ Brigade, based at Downsview Methodist Church, Thornton Heath, is mourning the passing of David Finch at the age of 92.

Dennis and his twin brother joined a Cub pack back in the 1930s, but a rather intimidating boy led them to go to the Life Boys, the equivalent age group in the Brigade, instead.

So began an association which lasted a lifetime. Dennis and brother Alan remained in Thornton Heath during the Blitz and the war years when many children were evacuated, and continued as teenage members until called up for national service.

Dennis returned to the Boys’ Brigade at Downsview, then called the 5th East Surrey, after army service, and became an Officer and eventually Company Captain between 1958 and 1976.

He undertook a range of leadership roles, running the Life Boy Team with outstanding success, building it up to a strength of 50 boys. His wife, Ann, was a great support, and herself a Life Boy leader.

He was asked by the Boys’ Brigade in Croydon, the Croydon Battalion, to become their president, a position he held for 30 years.

After his service as Captain of the Company (by then known as the 5th Croydon after the London borough re-organisation), he returned to his first love in BB, the eight to 11-year-old age group, the Junior Section, as the Life Boys were re-named.

He was a natural with boys of that age, and was still working with them until almost the end of his life. Dennis was a man of many parts: his considerable organising ability led him to put on scores of events for Boys’ Brigade, including camps, displays, shows, social evenings, fund-raising activities, old boys re-unions, and the celebration of various anniversaries.

Dennis was a gifted communicator with adults and children. He always had time for individuals, and the circle of his friends ran to hundreds. He used his practical talents unstintingly in the service both of Downsview Methodist Church and the BB, doing any repair or maintenance jobs.

In an age when dedicated voluntary service was on the decline, he was the very epitome of a devoted youth worker, and a huge influence on thousands of boys and men over the years.

The Croydon Advertiser covers locations including but not limited to Coulsdon, Crystal Palace, Croydon and Purley, South London.