Julian Ebsworth writes:
All organisations have their silent heroes who get on with their work tirelessly and selflessly out of the limelight and represent, if you like, the oil which keeps the gears of a machine operating smoothly. This was never more true of the Club’s salaried part-time accountant Denis Chaplin, who sadly died suddenly at his home on 13 December 2012 at the age of 75.
Denis was recruited by Rupert Hare (then Hon House Steward of the Club) in 2002, upon retiring from his career in accounts work, much of it with Houlder Offshore Engineering which grew out of the Furness Withy Group. Maurice Rayner had had to step down some 18 months beforehand from the Club’s Hon Treasurer post through ill health, at a time when it was recognised that greater resources were needed in the Office to handle the Club’s day-to-day, at times quite complex, financial work. Few members ever met Denis as he only came in during the day on Tuesdays and Thursdays but he quickly became a stalwart and friendly colleague of the Secretarial, coaching and catering teams who inhabited the Office, and also in particular of course an invaluable helpmate of successive Hon Treasurers over the last ten years - John Rew, Chris Rumboll, Hugh Richardson and, in the last few months, David Whitten. If visitors, whether expected or (quite frequently!) unexpected, came in the daytime to the clubhouse on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as often as not it was Denis who welcomed them at the door.
Denis was a patient and courteous soul, but ran a tight ship when it came to the Club’s compliance with the myriad tax and other regulations, and he was invaluable when the time came early in each calendar year for the Club to draw up its annual accounts at the end of what since 1870 has been its somewhat eccentric financial year (February to January). We will remember his quiet efficiency, modesty, shyness (it was never possible to persuade him to attend a Club function, despite efforts to inveigle him to do so) and utter reliability. He appreciated the opportunity to work at LRC because he loved to travel in his ‘retirement’, and it fitted in well with his voluntary work in the Teddington area where he lived for much of his life. He will be difficult to replace, and we shall miss him greatly.
Denis’s funeral is taking place at Hanworth Crematorium, Hounslow Road, Hanworth, at 12.40 p.m. on Friday 28th December.
