Friends of HTD – David

As part of Holy Trinity keeping connected, we are trying something new! Whilst we still connect online via our live services we can miss the chats as over a cuppa, in the pew, entering and leaving church. Alongside our Blether with HTD Facebook group we’d love to get to know you (the congregation) making friends and connections old and new through our new Friends of HTD questionnaire. 

Next up we have David Dean, our Rector’s warden and he has been a really active member on Vestry. He can often be seen on the welcoming committee and sporting his rugby tops during the 6 Nations.

Below are some things you may know or may find surprising to continue building friendships in our Holy Trinity community, even during lockdown.

  1. Name: David Dean
  2. Where are you from: Born Cardiff, emigrated to England Oct 1974, relocated to Scotland Apr 2017
  3. What is/was your occupation? In Dec 2009 I retired from Barclays Bank after 41 years service, most of which was spent in Treasury. In Sept 1968 I started as a trainee in Cardiff Foreign branch and in Oct 1974 was transferred to HQ in London to become a foreign exchange dealer. There followed secondments to overseas branches during which I developed skills as a trouble-shooter. In Nov 1981 after returning from 12 months in the Far East I was posted to New York in preparation for taking up a position as Chief Dealer for the Canadian operation. Lynnis and I, with Christine and Marc enjoyed our time in Toronto, returning to the UK in late 1983.
  4. Explain a little about what faith is to you? My mother was the ‘church wife’ in our family and I and my three brothers dutifully attended the parish church of St Michael and All Angels, Tongwynlais with her every Sunday. Back then in the 1950’s and 60’s my recollection is that my father was still trying to forget the memories of his war-time service in the submarines, so going to church was not high on his agenda. When I was around 10 years old I became a server and a member of the equivalent to modern day Youth Fellowship: the Guild of St Illtyd. This was an organisation that expanded on the church teachings that we had during Sunday School and although my grammar school studies gradually took over any spare time that I had, my recollection of the meetings of the Guild were that they helped to deepen my faith. As teenage years beckoned, I joined the church’s drama group and we put on Nativity and Passion plays each year. It was during those years that I renewed my acquaintance with Lynnis, whose father was the Headteacher of the Church in Wales Primary school in Tiger Bay and following his retirement he trained as a mature student in Hawarden and was ordained as a Non-Stipendiary Minister, licenced in the Diocese of Llandaff and attached to our parish church. Lynnis and I eventually became attached and we were married in “our” church on 12th April 1971. Faith is the cornerstone to our lives and wherever we have stayed we have always found a church to call home. We lived in Essex for 42 years and attended several CoE churches before settling in at St Augustine’s Church Thorpe Bay, where Lynnis was a prominent member of MU and was on Vestry and Deanery Synod. I joined the choir and serving team and eventually followed Lynnis by being co-opted on to the PCC and later secretary and Lay Chairman etc. Following retirement, I was persuaded to become Church Warden and the rest is history.
  5. Favourite pastime/hobby? In 1985 I was invited to join Round Table which is a service organisation aimed at young men between the ages of 21 and 45. Lynnis joined the sister organisation: Ladies Circle and together we made many friends and had great fun supporting charitable events etc. After being kicked out due to the age rule, I joined 41 Club which is where ex-Round Tablers go when they are officially too old!!! I remain a member of Southend on Sea 41 Club and am also a member and current Chairman of Kinross-shire 41 Club. We still raise money for charity, but do it in a more leisurely way over dinner! In 2014 I was invited by a fellow 41 Club member to consider joining the Freemasons. I had not realised that some of the older generation of our 41 Club had founded a Round Table Lodge and so it was that I was interviewed and accepted into what remains my mother Lodge: Tabula Rotunda, Southend on Sea. After relocating to Dunfermline, I applied to Lodge Union 250 Dunfermline and was admitted as an affiliate member. This is a very small lodge and meets on a fortnightly basis September to April in a building on New Row. 
  1. What’s your connection to HTD? We made occasional appearances at Holy Trinity over the years since daughter Christine relocated here with husband John in 2000 and have very happy memories of baptism services for our three lovely grandchildren. So in April 2017 when we made the huge move north to our new home in Dunfermline we already knew that our new church home would be Holy Trinity. 
  2. Tell us about your family… Daughter Christine was born on St David’s Day 1972 in St David’s Hospital, Cardiff. Christine graduated from Trinity College Carmarthen and met John through the Scout Association. They married in March 1999 and a few months later John’s job with NatWest / RBS was moved from London to Gogarburn. Their first home in Scotland was an upstairs flat in Viewfield Terrace and when we visited in December 2000 just a few days before granddaughter Talia was born, it was honestly the coldest we had ever felt anywhere – including our years in Canada! Roll forward two years and Carys was born in September 2002 followed by James in July 2004.
    Our son Marc was born on 24th July 1976 in Rochford Hospital, Essex. Marc lives in Manningtree, a lovely little town on the Essex/Suffolk border, with his wife Anna. Marc is a self-employed electrician and Anna looks after the business end of the job. We keep in contact with Marc and Anna via Skype, WhatsApp etc. 
  3. Do you have any pets? Yes, our family was augmented in June 2019 by the arrival of young Archie, a Bichon Frise, who was born on 7th April 2019 in Lanark. There is a little story behind his arrival. As some of you might recall I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in October 2018 and following surgery in April last year I was lying in a hospital bed when Lynnis and Christine came in to the room and pronounced that I was going to have a puppy to aid my recovery! They had caught me off-balance and I was in no position to say no! Archie has been a tremendous therapy for me over the past year and I still don’t quite understand how the next thing happened, but in February the girls ‘persuaded’ me that Archie needed a pal as he was feeling lonely (??!!) Thus it was that Christine having responded to an ad on social media took Lynnis and me to see a young cross-breed puppy. I fell for it when he crawled out of my arms and up on to my shoulder. When we got him home, we needed to come up with a name for him. Now at that time there was a bit of a fuss going on within the Scottish Rugby team, with Mr Russell having fallen out with the team manager Mr Gregor Townsend. So given the pup’s mischievous antics I decided that he would be called Finn. Archie and Finn are great pals and are always chasing each other around the garden. The grandchildren love taking the two pups for walks – which has been particularly helpful for us during the current lockdown as we have needed to stay at home.
  1. Favourite place you have visited? I spent a lot of time visiting the bank’s overseas business units in Europe, Middle East, Far East and Africa. Apart from our extended secondments to Hong Kong and Tokyo, our favourite place has been Canada where we spent two years but only saw part of the eastern side. So it was that in 2016 we took a longish holiday to the West Coast using Vancouver as a base and visiting Alaska via cruise ship, then via train through the Rocky Mountains and finally driving leisurely through the wonderful Banff National Park to Calgary. Such scenery is hard to beat anywhere and it will stick in our minds for years to come.
  2. Favourite song or band? In my youth in the 1960’s I was a Beatles fan and also liked the Rolling Stones (much to my parents’ disgust!). My favourite song remains “I got you Babe” by Sonny and Cher.   In terms of music technique, I became an admirer of the “Wall of Sound” created by American producer Phil Spector. He was responsible for producing hits such as “You’ve got that Lovin’ Feelin’” and “Unchained Melody”, the former still holding the record of being the all-time most-played song on US.
  3. Favourite TV show? Modern crime dramas, such as “Line of Duty” are favourite. In terms of comedy, it’s hard to beat oldies such as Dad’s Army and Porridge!
  4. Favourite hymn? Cwm Rhondda followed by Love Divine, all loves Excelling.
  5. Do you have a favourite sport and/or sports team? Rugby
  6. Favourite treat to eat? A nice juicy steak!
  7. An interesting fact about you that might surprise us … In the late 1980’s I was put through TV and Radio media training by my employer to front local news items should the need arise.  

If you would like to take part in our questionnaire (you can answer some or all the questions – you get to choose) please email ku.gro.hcruhcytinirtylohnull@retsambew and we will send over the instructions.

Thanks for helping us show our church is not a building it is its people during this challenging time.