Denise Patricia Good (13 Jun 1956 - 9 Sep 2023)

In loving memory of Denise Patricia Good who sadly passed away on 9th September 2023

Denise was born on 13 June 1956 in Clacton and was the youngest of three children, Keith, and Jean who was the eldest.

When Denise was a little older the family moved to Beverly Gardens in Hornchurch where she attended the local Jury Falls School.

On leaving school her first job was an Optical Receptionist based originally in Hornchurch town centre which later moved to Collier Row in Romford.

At the age of 15 in 1971 she met her then to be husband David in a Church Hall in the centre of Hornchurch. They immediately clicked with each other and have never been apart since. That was 52 years ago.

From working as a receptionist, she changed job and started work at Havering Council as an administrator. Her mum also worked in the same building as a health care administrator so travelled to work together.

It was a long 6 years engagement to David which was spent travelling a lot on his motorcycle and having many holidays. They thought that in their future life together, they probably would not get another chance to have such freedom to explore and travel, so decided to embraced life to the full, and live in that moment.

Denise finally got married to David in 1977, and had two children Stephen in 1979 and Christopher in 1981.

Her first house after getting married was a small terraced property which was fairly modern in appearance. The neighbours were truly amazing. When she got back from the wedding reception and entered her street, she was surprised by all the activity, flags and butting. Then as she got closer to the house, she could see all the neighbours were holding a street party for them outside her house. A police car had pulled up and was joining in the fun, and the vicar was standing at the front door ready to greet them. It was a very special place to live, and held some very special memories.

She then got a job as an administrator for the local Archaeological Trust. The building which was in Chelmsford cemetery had extensive intruder alarm sensors throughout. It frequently went off during the night sometimes because of a post it sticker falling off the wall and triggering the alarm, which went straight through to the police. One night she received a call from the police saying the alarm has activated and they can't contact the other main keyholders, could she please attend. Well, the police left her to it to go in and check. They said there was no way they were going into a cemetery, let alone a building in the middle of a cemetery in complete darkness, and in the early hours of the morning. No problem for Denise, just got on with the job.

From the Archaeological Trust she got a job working for adult education as an administrator, and then seriously considered taking up teaching IT. She always wanted to teach, but she never found a way to make this happen.

From there she changed her job again and joined Essex County Council in the Highways department looking after transport for children. She enjoyed this work as it involved arranging transport for disabled children.

Denise only had one fear in life, and that was boats. When she was 16, she went on a school trip to France and on the way back the hovercraft broke-down in the middle of the channel with other ships circling close by in case they were needed. She never got over that memory and avoided all excursions on boats throughout her life.

For Denise and David St Ives in Cornwall will always be a very special place, with very fond memories. It was the first time they had ever had a holiday for two continuous weeks at a time. The clear blue water, and soft sandy beaches and of course the Cornish pasties were a sheer delight. Many holidays were spent, just moving from one bench seat to the next. They returned to St Ives many times.

Denise was a very charitable person and would always put something in the charity box and then turn to David and say 'Well it’s in a good cause'. She was always a very caring and thoughtful person.

She was also a person very determined to better herself, and went back to school in the evenings to get better qualifications. She was always particularly proud of achieving her A levels in English and Business Studies.

In the early days of marriage money was very tight so Denise took on various part time jobs while looking after the children, selling Tupperware, filling shelves in the supermarket etc.

Once the children had grown up, her son Stephen also got a job with Essex County Council and in the same department. He had no idea his mum worked there so it was a very big surprise when he told her he had found himself a job in the Highways department. Denise was pleased, but shocked when she found out it was in her department. Fortunately, it was in a different team. It was a long time before one of the contractors they worked with said to her, "you've got an unusual surname I haven’t come across it before, and someone else in the office has the same name as you". Yes, she replied, “that's my son”. Well, that let the cat out of the bag and shocked everyone. They were always so professional referring to each other by name and never ever as son or mum.

Christopher also joined Essex County Council although he joined through a slightly different route, this time in the IT department. It was quite a family affair, apart from David who worked for another Local Authority. Later she moved in to procurement and progressed to office manager.

Due to a reorganisation at work in 2011 she was offered redundancy, and because of her deterring health she was also just about eligible to apply for early retirement as well. So, she took the opportunity and retired.

In 2012 she finally got the dog she had always wanted. David resisted the purchase for as long as he could, but with both of them retired, he had no choice but to accept the inevitable. So, Oscar the dog became surprisingly after all that resistance, David's best mate.

Denise used to love driving her scooter along the promenade at Maldon with David and Oscar for many years, they would go at least 3 times a week. It was also a good excuse to have breakfast, coffee and a chat with the regulars at the café. These were very good times.

Denise loved he football and was always a loyal Westham supporter. She was always watching football on the tele. She used to take Stephen to his matches for many years. David stopped taking him because he couldn’t cope with all the punch ups, floodlight failures, injuries. If something was going to happen it always seemed to happened when David took him.

Denise loved Christmas, and for 25 years had all the family at her house. She even had a conservatory build just to enable everyone to sit and eat at the same table, and that was for the main Christmas meal and evening supper. Sometimes up to 27 people. She used to do most of the cooking with help from family, but this got increasingly more difficult with time. Those Christmases were magical and very special times. There was so much fun and laughter with their little Christmas shows and of course the mandatory blue peter present, and sometimes fancy dress. For many years David kept saying shall we stop, but she always said “Well, perhaps after just one more year”.

Denise was always aware from an early age of her special connection with spirit. In her early 50s she and David started going to a development circle. They joined a Church in Braintree and soon got elected on to the committee. Denise’s role on the committee became Treasurer, and David’s Secretary. As part of her many roles with the Church Denise would also do most of the prep work and organising for fund raising events. These events were so popular they were usually sold out within a few days. People would ask for their names to be put on a reserve list, even though it would not take place for another year.

In 2008 she had an extensive eight-hour hernia operation which did not go well requiring time in the intensive care unit and almost dying in the process. This left Denise with nerve damage in her leg and Lymphoedema and Lipoedema which slowly changed her life till eventually she needed 24-hour carer support, which David provided.

In 2022 Denise had her house extended and remodelled to make it disability friendly. The extensive construction took 9 months to complete and was very stressful, living most of it in a couple of cramped rooms. However, she finally got her dream, a walk-in wheelchair lift which was a great improvement to her quality of life.

However her health had deteriorated quickly in recent months and she needed additional external Carer's to come in and assist David with her care.

She was always mentally positive right up to the end, and had a kind and forgiving heart, and will be missed by many.