Tribute to Denis Johnston, 1948 - 2022
Tribute to Denis Johnston
Sarathkumara ● 24 April 2022A famous writer once said “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give”.
If that is true, then Mr. DENIS JONSTON made a great life. He was the most giving person I’ve ever known. Hope that many of you agree.
I am Sarath Prematilake pleased to address you in this occasion to say good bay to Denis, history of our mutual friendship runs far back to 1971-1973 when Denis was a lecturer in the “HARDY SENIOR TECHNICAL INSTITUE – AMPARA, Sri Lanka. At the time we were Engineering Diplomates in the institute.
We departed each other in 1973 at the completion our academic studies and the graduation yet, we students could not forget our foreign teachers(VSO) who came from the United Kingdom, namely Mr. Denis Johnston, Mr. Chris, Mr. Alan, Mr. William and Mr. Devereux.
As the time passes, our institute also were getting aged and reaching 50years old in 2006, and our ‘Hardy Old Boys Association’ decided to commemorate the 50th anniversary in a grand scale and to invite our foreign teachers who rendered and dedicated their engineering knowledge on behalf of the students in the “HARDY SENIOR TECHNICAL INSTITUE – AMPARA, Sri Lanka.
Astonishing us, they accepted our invitation and visited in Sri Lanka to decorate the event, Mr. Denis with his wife Veira and their younger son were also with us to share the pleasure of the event.
Denis was a nice husband to his wife, an exemplary father to his sons, good teacher, very unpretentious entertainer, his both hands were stretched to help others, His time devoted many hours to acquire the modern knowledge and technology. He always had positive attitudes.
Denis was a remarkably thoughtful;
hardworking; fun-loving person. He was a person of great compassion and love.
He always said “family is the most important thing in life”;
Those are words of wisdom that I will always cherish.
In closing, I would like to share this poem with you:
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
Dear Denis, thank you for being part of our lives. We are all going to
miss you.
Thank you…………………………….
If that is true, then Mr. DENIS JONSTON made a great life. He was the most giving person I’ve ever known. Hope that many of you agree.
I am Sarath Prematilake pleased to address you in this occasion to say good bay to Denis, history of our mutual friendship runs far back to 1971-1973 when Denis was a lecturer in the “HARDY SENIOR TECHNICAL INSTITUE – AMPARA, Sri Lanka. At the time we were Engineering Diplomates in the institute.
We departed each other in 1973 at the completion our academic studies and the graduation yet, we students could not forget our foreign teachers(VSO) who came from the United Kingdom, namely Mr. Denis Johnston, Mr. Chris, Mr. Alan, Mr. William and Mr. Devereux.
As the time passes, our institute also were getting aged and reaching 50years old in 2006, and our ‘Hardy Old Boys Association’ decided to commemorate the 50th anniversary in a grand scale and to invite our foreign teachers who rendered and dedicated their engineering knowledge on behalf of the students in the “HARDY SENIOR TECHNICAL INSTITUE – AMPARA, Sri Lanka.
Astonishing us, they accepted our invitation and visited in Sri Lanka to decorate the event, Mr. Denis with his wife Veira and their younger son were also with us to share the pleasure of the event.
Denis was a nice husband to his wife, an exemplary father to his sons, good teacher, very unpretentious entertainer, his both hands were stretched to help others, His time devoted many hours to acquire the modern knowledge and technology. He always had positive attitudes.
Denis was a remarkably thoughtful;
hardworking; fun-loving person. He was a person of great compassion and love.
He always said “family is the most important thing in life”;
Those are words of wisdom that I will always cherish.
In closing, I would like to share this poem with you:
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
Dear Denis, thank you for being part of our lives. We are all going to
miss you.
Thank you…………………………….
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