Robert Irving Dennis

Robert Irving Dennis Middletown, RI - Robert Irving Dennis, 91, of 1052 East Main Road, Middletown, RI, died Saturday, September 22, 2007, at the Grand Islander Health Care Center, Middletown, RI. He was the husband of Elizabeth Houlihan Dennis. Born in Newport, RI, on November 2, 1915, he was the son of the late Marshall L. and Martha Eagan Dennis.Mr. Dennis had worked as an electronic technician for the Naval Underwater Systems Center for 34 years, retiring in 1975. He had previously worked for the Naval Public Works Department and at Quonset Point. Mr. Dennis was a crewmember on the USS Bayfield APA-33 on June 6, 1944, D-Day the invasion of Normandy, France, and was transferred later to the Pacific Theater of war where he was at the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He began his career in the USCG in the lighthouse service division. He was a member of the International Order of Odd Fellows, the Middletown Knights of Columbus, the U.S. Light House Society, the Massachusetts Light House Society, the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum Association, the Newport and Middletown Historical Society, the Edward King House Senior Citizens Center and was a life member of the Newport Power Squadron. Mr. Dennis was a Communicant of St. Lucys Church. Mr. Dennis was also a member of the Green Valley Country Club in Portsmouth. He was an avid golfer and woodworker. Mr. Dennis made wooden models of all of the lighthouses on Narragansett Bay and they are currently on display at the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum. Besides his wife he is survived by a daughter Mary Kelley of Framingham, MA, and two grandchildren, Brian Kelley and Alison Kelley both of Framingham, MA.His funeral will be held on Wednesday, September 26, 2007, at 8:00 a.m., from the Memorial Funeral Home, 375 Broadway, Newport, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 9:00 a.m., in St. Lucys Church, 909 West Main Road, Middletown.Burial will be in Middletown Cemetery in Middletown.Calling hours will be held Tuesday, September 25, 2007, from 4-7 p.m. in the Memorial Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Middletown Rescue Wagon Fund, 239 Wyatt Road, Middletown, RI, 02842.