Dennis Jeffrey Mattiske was born in Perth, WA, on 29 October 1946. He completed his secondary education at The Hitchins School in Tasmania and went to The Sydney University and graduated with a Bachelor of Economics in 1967. Before entering the Army as National Serviceman 2791194 on 9 October 1968 he was employed as a Chartered Accountant by E. S. Owens and Co. Dennis, who had married Margaret before entering the Army, commenced officer training at OTU on 26 October with Class 4/68. In his Senior Term, Dennis held the rank of Sergeant. On graduation on 23 April 1969, Dennis was allocated to the Ordnance Corps and posted as Adjutant/Quartermaster at the 4th Central Ammunition Depot.
After he completed ‘Nasho’, Dennis married Margaret on 14 November 1970. The couple would have Andrew in 1972 and Jenny in 1974. Dennis returned to accounting and set up an accounting business and for decades lived at Newport, NSW. A few years back, Dennis retired from his accounting business. He and Margaret moved from Newport to live on the NSW mid-north coast at Tallwoods Village, which is between Black Head and the Pacific Highway about 20 kilometres North of Forster/Tuncurry. Dennis’ hobbies were tennis, golf, boating and water skiing, fishing, gardening, painting landscapes and AFL. He also enjoyed visiting wineries.
Dennis advised his classmates late last year that he had been diagnosed with mesothelioma from an unfortunate exposure to asbestos, thought to be nearly forty years ago. Dennis passed peacefully on 3 February 2023. Margaret advised that the family held a private cremation on 7 March. On 10 March the family held a celebration of Dennis’s life at the family home.
Dennis is remembered by his classmates as very smart, always calm and always a very nice person who could be relied upon. RIP Dennis.